Accused says DNA from tryst

A man accused of rape says a sexual act on a dance floor, not a sexual attack in a car, is how his DNA got on a stranger’s underwear.

Matthew James Butland, 37, gave evidence yesterday during his trial in the Palmerston North District Court.

He is accused of raping and sexually violating a woman in the early hours of May 30, 2015.

The woman said she had a night out, got in a car with someone she assumed her friend knew and nodded off on what she assumed was a ride home.

After she woke, the man forced her into a sexual act so she could get her handbag back, then raped her before kicking her out, she said.

Forensic scientist Dr David Neale told the court yesterday the woman’s pants and underwear had semen stains on them.

The stains were on the inside and outside of the underwear, but away from the crotch.

Tests came back positive for Butland’s DNA.

Although notes indicated the offender might have worn a condom, no testing was done to look for condom residue – spermicidal gels, for example – after the semen was found, he said.

Judge Lance Rowe told the jury police already had Butland’s DNA because he was investigated for a minor property offence many years prior.

Butland said his DNA must have got on the woman’s clothing after an incident on the dance floor of Shooters, which is now known as The Daily.

He spent the early evening at his Highbury home watching television before walking into town to drink and play pool.

He talked to two women in the upstairs section of Shooters before giving one money for drinks.

In the five minutes she was gone the other woman started dancing with him, became intimate and performed a sexual act on him, he said.

He did not go out looking for sexual activity, but did not stop the woman once she started.

‘‘It took me by surprise.’’

She wiped her hands on her pants, the friend came back, they had their drinks and parted ways, he said.

‘‘I went to the toilet to clean myself up.’’

He then went home because he wanted a shower, he said.

He was not sure how he got home – either in a taxi or walking – but knew he did not drive anyone home.

No-one in the dance area would have noticed because he and the woman were so close together, he said.

The complainant’s friend earlier told the trial they were given a ride in a white station wagon.

But Butland said he owned a gold Toyota Camry and had no access to a white station wagon.

Crown prosecutor Miriam Wilkinson suggested to Butland he made up with the dance floor incident to explain how his DNA was found on a stranger’s underwear.

The jury will begin deliberating verdicts on Monday.