La Plata, MD – It was time for the man who is the focus of a second-degree rape trial in La Plata to take the witness stand before Charles County Circuit Court Judge Helen I. Harrington Monday, Dec. 14.

Joseph Lawrence Higgs III, 23 of Newburg, told the jury that the victim accusing him of rape began flirting with him and French-kissing him after they were drinking shooters the night of Feb. 14, 2015.

Higgs described the interaction with the victim as “consensual.”

He is charged with second-degree rape and second-degree assault in the case.

The defendant testified that as they began walking down the hallway to the bedroom after doing shooters, the victim turned to him and began French kissing him.

“She pulled my shirt, reaches down and starts unbuckling my belt buckle and pulls down my pants,” he said. “She began giving me oral sex for three or four minutes. She told me, ‘I want your —- inside me,’ ” he recalled. “I inserted my fingers into her vagina. She started saying my name and grabbing my hair. I began performing oral sex on her.”

He said at that point the victim received a phone call and she left the room. He said he could hear her talking in the hallway and she came back about 10 minutes later.

“She straddled me,” he said. “She put her hand on my penis. She grabbed my penis and put it inside her.”

Higgs said the woman climaxed on the bed, then “pulled me down on top of her. She told me to —- her harder. I started to climax and she asked me to pull out and I did. I ejaculated on her stomach.”

They laid on the bed and “a minute or two later, she brought up the fact that she had a boyfriend,” he said. “I was confused as to why someone would do all of that stuff and then tell me she had a boyfriend.

“I was confused and hurt,” Higgs added. “She told me she wanted to be sure we never talked about this.”

“Did she ever tell you that she was good at oral sex?” Defense Attorney Melvin L. Allen Jr. asked.

“She told me she was good at oral sex multiple times,” he replied. “She never yelled at me, never raised her voice.”

Charles County Assistant State’s Attorney Sarah K. Freeman focused on a photo Higgs took of the victim after they had sex, laying on the bed in only a night shirt. He wanted to know why he deleted another photo he had taken of a puddle on the sheet after the victim had an orgasm.

Higgs responded that the first lawyer he hired to represent him “didn’t need” that photo for his defense so he deleted it.

“You did what your lawyer wanted you to do,” she said.

“Yes ma’am,” he answered.

Freeman brought a large bottle of Gray Goose vodka and set it on the defendant’s desk.

“Would you agree that if a person drinks too much alcohol it can be difficult to wake them?” she asked.

“Yes ma’am,” he replied.

“Would you agree that if a person consumes too much alcohol they can lose muscle control; that alcohol can affect a person’s ability to think clearly?” Freeman queried.

“Yes ma’am,” Higgs stated.

Closing arguments will precede the jury’s being handed the case, which is expected to conclude this week.

Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com