“A Canadian man had his name cleared Monday when a jury found him not guilty of sexually assaulting a woman who had accused him of raping her after the two left an Uptown Minneapolis bar together last year.
Sam Prpich leaned his head down in relief as his attorney placed his hands on his shoulders to congratulate him when the verdicts were read in a Ramsey County District courtroom.
The jury found the 26-year-old not guilty of both the first and third-degree criminal sexual conduct counts filed against him a few months after the alleged incident occurred on Nov. 13, 2016.
Prpich was accused of raping a woman whom friends introduced him to at an Uptown Minneapolis bar that day.
The two left in a cab together to go back to his St. Paul apartment, where they engaged in consensual sex.
At some point during their encounter, the woman said Prpich pinned her down and forced her to briefly engage in a sexual act that was not consensual.
Prpich testified that his actions were accidental, caused by a dark room and alcohol.
His defense attorney, Brian Karalus, told the jury that the woman’s version of the events was dubious because she admitted to drinking about 10 alcoholic beverages before she and Prpich went back to his apartment.”