Marchet sentenced in fourth sexual assault case
By jason bergreen
The Salt Lake Tribune
Nov 5, 2010
A serial date rapist, already convicted of raping three women, was sentenced Friday in a fourth case to up to life in prison.
The victim and other young women in the courtroom who had been previously assaulted by Azlen Marchet exchanged smiles and whispered, “yes,” when the ruling was announced.
Third District Judge Vernice Trease sentenced Marchet, 32, to 15 years to life in prison on each of two first-degree-felony sexual assault charges. The sentences will run consecutively.
Marchet was found guilty in September of sexually assaulting the woman in this case outside a Salt Lake City nightclub in June 2003.
The victim told Trease that on the day of the assault “my world turned gray.” She said she has suffered anxiety, anger and depression and was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder because of the assault. She asked that Marchet receive the maximum sentence allowed.
“I do not believe he will ever be rehabilitated,” the woman said.
Five other women who had been sexually assaulted by Marchet or had accused him of attacking them also made brief statements, asking for a sentence of 15 years to life.
Marchet, when it was his turn to speak, insisted the women consented to having sex with him, as he has done in previous cases.
He did not apologize for his actions against the women and called them “queens of comedy,” after they made their comments.
“Give yourselves a round of applause for such poignant and captivating speeches,” he told them.
Trease warned Marchet several times to address the court, not the women. Marchet called the sentence unfair.
“Every time we come to court the stories change, just like the weather,” Marchet said.
Two of Marchet’s prior convictions were “date rapes,” where he attacked women after inviting them back to his apartment.
A third conviction involved what prosecutors referred to as a “club rape.” In that case, Marchet attacked a woman in the parking lot of a Salt Lake County nightclub in October 2003.
Trease cited several mitigating circumstances, including physical injury, severe emotional trauma, a pattern of “stalking type behavior and enticing type behavior,” and previous convictions as reason for handing down the stiff sentence.
“He has an absolute lack of remorse and lack of responsibility,” Trease said.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50618243-76/marchet-case-women-assault.html.csp
