GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WZZM) The prosecution rested its case today in the sexual assault trial of a former Grand Rapids police officer involving a woman he met on a dating site in 2014.
Jurors on Friday heard a taped interview between Ryan Bruggink and a Michigan State Police detective investigating the sexual assault complaint.
Bruggink, 25, said he had sex with the woman, conceding it was rough sex, but still consensual.
On Tuesday, the Wyoming woman testified that an intoxicated Bruggink forced his way into her home early on Nov. 25, 2014 and sexually assaulted her.
“I asked him if he knew what happened,’’ the woman testified on Tuesday. “He said he was very drunk and said yeah, we had consensual sex. And he was laughing.’’
During opening statements Tuesday, Kent County Assistant Prosecutor Jeff Kemperman told jurors the woman repeatedly told Bruggink not to stop by her house that night.
Bruggink, he said, ignores “one of the most fundamental rules that we have in the law. Quite simply? No means no.’’
Defense attorney William D. McCririe told jurors that Bruggink did visit the woman that night, but said the sex was consensual.
“This was a mutually beneficial rough sex relationship between these two people,’’ he said in opening statements. “Think about how many times have these people have done these very same things with each other.’’
Bruggink is charged with home invasion and three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. The trial before Kent County Circuit Court Judge Donald A. Johnston got underway this week.
Bruggink’s defense team will present its case to jurors on Monday. If convicted, Bruggink faces up to life in prison. He remains free on bond.
