The Arkansas Court of Appeals has affirmed the 2018 conviction of a Texarkana man for rape and his 10-year prison sentence.
Ulrick Hillman, 36, was found guilty in April 2018 of rape by a Miller County, Ark., jury. The jury heard testimony that Hillman climbed through the bedroom window of a woman he knew and forcibly raped her.
On appeal, Hillman argued that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to prove Hillman used “forcible compulsion” when he sexually assaulted the woman. Hillman was a close friend of the father of the woman’s children and had spent the night at her residence previously, but only when his friend was there.
According to the opinion handed down by the appellate court Wednesday, Hillman pushed the woman back on her bed and forced her legs apart as she struggled. Hillman told detectives with the Texarkana, Ark., Police Department that he never had sex with the woman, consensual or otherwise, but his DNA was found in semen samples collected from the woman’s body and underwear during a sexual assault examination at a local hospital June 3, 2016.
The night before the early morning attack, the woman and some friends were out socializing and drinking at a local nightclub when the victim ran into Hillman. The victim testified that Hillman told her he wanted to come to her apartment but that she told him he was not invited. The woman testified that after the rape she was never able to spend another night in her apartment and had to move.
Hillman is currently being held in the Ouachita River Correctional Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction, according to ADC’s website. Hillman’s parole eligibility date is April 22, 2025 and he must register as a sex offender upon release.
