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Silver Summit • It wasn't until a friend asked her if she was OK — and pointed out that she was wearing nothing but her coat and a pair of boots, her clothing clutched in her hands — that the 23-year-old Midway woman realized something was wrong.
The night before had been completely black. She had remembered a chance meeting with a New York City couple at a Park City bar. She remembered that he bought her tequila shots and a cocktail, that they had promised her a Sundance Film Festival after-party, and brought her to their hotel room. She recalled champagne in the room, followed by some Ecstasy and conversations on the hotel couch.
Then, everything was black.
She had a small sliver of memory of waking up in a bed that morning with Anne Hardcastle, 28, and Michael Taylor, 46. But the rest of that morning — including an Uber ride home from the couple's hotel room to her friend's house in Park City — was blank.
"I felt panicked," the woman testified on Monday during a preliminary hearing for the couple. "And scared and horrible."
More than six months after the encounter, Hardcastle and Taylor were each charged in 3rd District Court with object rape, sodomy and forcible sexual abuse. Prosecutors accuse the couple of giving the Utah woman alcohol and drugs before having a threesome with her.
On Monday, the couple were in court for a preliminary hearing, where prosecutors present testimony of the alleged crimes and a judge decides whether there is sufficient evidence for the case to move forward.
During the hearing, the alleged victim said she had no recollection of the night of Jan. 26 and did not consent to any sexual activity. However, she had scratches, bruises, suction marks and bite marks, along with genital pain, that led her to believe she had been abused.
"I just felt like it had happened," she testified. "Something had happened sexually."
While at the hospital for an examination, the woman said she looked at her phone and realized that she had an Instagram friend request from Hardcastle. This led to six months of correspondence, where the alleged victim said she acted as if the sex acts were consensual in order to get Hardcastle to admit to the alleged crimes.
The Utah woman read a transcript of these conversations in court Monday, detailing when she asked Hardcastle to tell her everything that had happened that night because she was having a hard time remembering.
"[Hardcastle] said, 'Basically, you're gorgeous and I was really excited,'" the woman read. " 'It's something I wanted to try for awhile.' "
Hardcastle went on with a graphic retelling of a number of sex acts that both she and Taylor participated in with the alleged victim, according to testimony. When the Utah woman questioned the bruises on her body, Hardcastle responded: "You said you liked it rough, so I gave you whatever you wanted."
In a recorded phone call taken just after charges were filed, the alleged victim said Hardcastle was apologetic.
"She said she didn't know," the woman testified. "She thought it was consensual. She offered to pay for therapy if I needed it."
Toxicology reports of the alleged victim showed she had doxylamine — an antihistamine that can be used as a sleep aid — in her system, along with cocaine metabolite. The woman testified that she had no memory of taking cocaine or consuming anything with Doxylamine in it.
Under cross-examination, defense attorneys questioned the woman's account and spotty memory, and asked her if it was possible she scratched herself. She couldn't remember, she testified.
Judge Kara Pettit did not make a ruling Monday on whether the case will move forward against the two defendants. Instead, a Jan. 6 hearing was set for a continued preliminary hearing, where more witnesses are expected to testify.
Both Hardcastle and Taylor have posted bail since being booked into the Summit County jail.