Bharadia v. State

Samdeep Bharadia and Sterling Flint were indicted together for burglary of an apartment and theft by receiving the property stolen from that apartment. Bharadia was also indicted for aggravated sodomy —placing his mouth on the vagina of the victim, and aggravated sexual battery —inserting a cotton swab into the victim’s vagina. Bharadia pled not guilty to the charges and proceeded to a jury trial, while Flint negotiated a guilty plea agreement with the state and testified against Bharadia. At trial, the victim testified that on Sunday, November 18, 2001, she returned from church to her apartment in the town of Thunderbolt. As she walked in the door, a man she did not know was standing inside the apartment. The man forced the victim to take off all her clothes, put a blindfold on her, tied her to a chair, moved her to a bed where he bound her wrists to the bedposts and her ankles to the footboard, threatened to kill her with a knife, placed his mouth on her vagina, inserted his fingers and a Q-tip cotton swab into her vagina, and masturbated until he ejaculated on her stomach.

During the assault, the man told the victim that he had a partner outside, and at some point the victim thought she heard the man talking to someone in her living room. After the assault, the man left the victim’s apartment, taking her computer, suitcase, camera, jewelry and compact discs with him.