( NewsNation ) — Utah rape suspect Nicholas Rossi refused to appear at a court hearing Tuesday, where a judge then ordered that “reasonable force” be used, if necessary, to compel him to appear next month.
Rossi, whose legal name is believed to be Nicholas Alahverdian , is charged with the rape of a 21-year-old woman in Orem, Utah, in 2008. He wasn’t identified as a suspect until about a decade later due to a backlog of DNA test kits at the Utah State Crime Lab.
Rossi, 36, insists he’s not who a DNA test claims him to be and insists this is a case of mistaken identity. He has claimed he was an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight and had never set foot on American soil.
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Rossi was set to make an appearance remotely from the Utah County Jail in his rape trial. His lawyers said he refused to leave his cell and were unable to clarify whether Rossi’s absence was due to illness.
The judge overseeing the case said that if Rossi wasn’t sick, he lacked a valid excuse for not showing up.