Former University of Wisconsin student Alec Cook will now face seven different trials, a judge ruled Thursday.
Originally, Cook was supposed to face two different trials: One would have covered 21 criminal counts ranging from sexual assault to false imprisonment while the other will try him for two criminal counts from a September 2014 incident.
In total, Cook faces 23 criminal charges involving 11 women. The charges include:
- Seven counts of second degree sexual assault
- Three counts of third degree sexual assault
- Two counts of fourth degree sexual assault
- Two counts of strangulation and suffocation
- Three counts of false imprisonment
- Two counts of stalking
- Four counts of disorderly conduct
According to The Wisconsin State Journal, Dane Country Circuit Judge, Stephen Ehlke issued a decision to try Cook’s 21-count case into six separate trials.
- Case one: The two counts of stalking involving two women will be tried together.
- Case two: Two counts of fourth-degree sexual assault and two counts of disorderly conduct involving four different women will be tried together.
- Case three, four, five, six: Each women who accused Cook of second and third degree sexual assault will be tried as four separate cases.
Cook’s attorneys, Christopher Van Wagner and Jessa Nicholson originally motioned for 11 separate trials because the assaults occurred at different times.
According to court records, Ehlke’s decision was originally supposed to come Friday. Instead, the Sept. 8 hearing will likely discuss Ehlke’s decision.
