Pooja LodhiaHOUSTON (KTRK) -- It's been another day of emotional testimony from the woman who says she was raped by a Houston police officer. The alleged victim says she was terrified and even tried to take her own life after the incident. Now she's facing intense questioning from the former officer's attorneys. Former Houston police officer Abraham Joseph watched as his alleged victim testified. Tears ran down her cheeks as she spoke through a translator.
"It was horrible," she said. "I could never forget it."
She described in graphic detail how she says Joseph first handcuffed her then sexually assaulted her several times. On Thursday she was cross-examined.
Defense attorney Nicole Deborde told Eyewitness News, "Each of the little pieces of the story that she has spent time telling to this jury need to be dissected."
Deborde didn't start off by talking about the alleged rape. Instead, she asked the woman several questions about her immigration status. The alleged victim is a citizen of El Salvador and admits to having lied on her immigration papers.
The defense hopes those lies will lessen the alleged victim's credibility.
"So that the jury can decide for themselves what parts of those stories are true and what parts are not, and that she's in fact capable of saying something that is not true," Deborde said.
KTRK legal analyst Joel Androphy says the defense appears to be following a common pattern.
"You work your way up toward attacking her credibility," he said. "You start with fundamental issues that you can prove that are more objective, then you get to the issue of the situation."
Cross-examination of the victim is expected to continue Friday.
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