Man convicted in sexual assault of ASU student in Tempe

On Monday, Eric Todd Bell proved true the old adage, "the man who represents himself has a fool for a client."

After a 14-day trial in which Bell, 33, represented himself against charges related to the October 2021 sexual assault of an Arizona State University student, a Maricopa County Superior Court jury found Bell guilty of one count of kidnapping and five counts of sexual assault.

Jurors deadlocked on two counts of aggravated assault, with Judge Joseph Kreamer declaring a mistrial on those two counts. Kreamer remanded Bell to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and set his sentencing date for May 9.

Bell could receive more than 25 years in prison for his crimes, according to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. Prosecutors described the case as a "‘stranger rape’ of a college student."

A probable cause statement filed with the court by the ASU Police Department described the brazen early morning attack, which occurred near ASU's South Packard Drive parking structure, located just north of South Packard Drive and East Sixth Street in Tempe.

The statement said the female victim told police that she had been walking from her apartment to her workplace on Oct. 17, 2021, when someone grabbed her from behind, threatened her with a knife and forced her to move to a nearby location. The suspect then ordered her to the ground and sexually assaulted her.

"After the assault, the suspect threatened the victim with what she believed to be a handgun against her back and the slide 'racking' back," the statement said. "The suspect then fled in an unknown direction prior to the victim running to her workplace for help."

The suspect was unknown to the victim, but her description of the attacker matched a man spotted by surveillance cameras following her at 4:58 a.m., according to the probable cause statement. Camera footage from the victim's workplace "showed her entering the building and collapsing on the ground of the front lobby" at approximately 5:07 a.m. of the same day.

The victim thought her assailant "was a jogger coming up from behind her on the sidewalk," and after the assault, "Bell told the victim to count to 50 before doing anything — presumably to aid his escape from the scene," according to the county attorney's office.

DNA evidence collected from the victim's body by a forensic nurse examiner was Bell's undoing. According to the probable cause statement, analysis of the evidence by the Arizona Department of Public Safety entered into state and national DNA databases returned a match to Bell. He was living with his brother in Mesa at the time.

Tempe police arrested Bell on Oct. 29, 2021. Police seized a black semiautomatic handgun and a black revolver during a search of Bell's home, as well as clothing that seemed to match the clothing worn by the suspect in the surveillance footage.

The probable cause statement noted that Bell had a prior conviction in Ohio for assault and weapons misconduct.

During the trial, acting as his own attorney, Bell was allowed to cross-examine the victim, according to the trial record.

Sexual predators serving as their own counsel is not unheard of. In January, Carl Nathaniel Fredricksen pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, one count of attempted child molestation, one count of attempted sexual conduct with a minor younger than 15 and one count of attempted exploitation of a minor. He was accused of molesting, photographing and videotaping more than 14 children, including his two sons, engaging in sex acts with him and each other.

Fredricksen, 37, also acted as his own attorney. As such, the court granted him permission to review the child sexual abuse material he had created. Fredricksen also wanted to interrogate his child victims on the stand.

But prosecutors entered into a plea deal with Fredricksen, allowing him to plead guilty to five counts related to sexual misconduct with minors, with 36 counts being dismissed. A judge sentenced Fredricksen to 35 years in prison.

A similar case occurred during the 2016 Phoenix trial of ex-Minuteman leader Chris Simcox for child molestation. Simcox represented himself and sought to personally interrogate his child victims. Ultimately, Simcox dropped that bid, allowing his court-appointed advisory counsel to question them on his behalf.

The jury convicted Simcox on two counts of child molestation and one count of furnishing porn to a minor. He was sentenced to 19.5 years in prison.

County Attorney Rachel Mitchell referenced Bell acting as his own attorney in a statement from her office on Wednesday.

“These cases are already challenging enough, even when the defendant has his own lawyer,” Mitchell said. “When the defendant is representing himself, my lawyers must work doubly hard to ensure he doesn’t make mistakes that would jeopardize a conviction."

"I’m particularly proud of this team who took all that into account and still made sure he will go to prison where he belongs," she added.