FORT EDWARD -- Trial continues this morning for a Whitehall man who is charged with raping a female relative after giving her drugs.
Phillip P. Battease, 47, faces counts of first-degree rape, third-degree rape and incest for the incident last spring at a home in Whitehall.
The first-degree rape charge accuses him of having sex with the woman when she was too intoxicated by drugs to consent.
Police said Battease videotaped the encounter with a computer webcam, and is disputing the allegation the woman was unable to consent. He was arrested April 14 by Whitehall Police.
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He has at least three prior felony convictions, and is on parole for a 2002 drug sale conviction in Warren County, according to state corrections records.
The trial began Monday before Washington County Judge Kelly McKeighan. Battease faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the rape charge.
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