SALT LAKE CITY — Nearly a year after being extradited to Utah after allegedly fleeing the country and assuming a false identity, Nicholas Rossi now knows when he will face a jury in one of his rape trials.
On Friday, Rossi's defense team and prosecutors agreed to begin jury selection for his trial on April 21, with the trial scheduled to start on April 22. The trial has been put on the calendar for four days.
Rossi briefly appeared at the hearing remotely from the Utah County Jail.
The case scheduled for April 2025 is one in which Rossi has been charged with the rape of a former girlfriend in 2008. He also faces trial in Utah County for the alleged rape of another woman in Orem during the same year.
Rossi, whose legal name is Nicholas Alahverdian, was extradited from Scotland in January.
During previous court appearances this year, Rossi claimed his name was Arthur Knight and that he was not the man authorities were searching for. However, during a hearing in October, Rossi said he was forced to change his name due to what he called "credible threats" against his life.
Following the October hearing in which Rossi plead not guilty to a first-degree felony rape charge, the judge denied his release from jail ahead of trial.
