Two: Had drinks, woke being raped

After having three glasses of merlot and a cocktail with Jeffrey Marsalis at an Irish pub in Center City, the oldest of Marsalis' alleged rape victims testified yesterday that she blanked out.

The next thing she knew, she said, he was yelling at her while she was on top of him in bed.

He was "telling me to keep it down, that he had neighbors," the New Jersey woman, now 36, told a Common Pleas jury. "He was very angry. He was yelling."

She then sensed herself having sex with him. They were naked.

She agreed that she apparently "called him somebody else's name," she testified, because he yelled at her: "How would you like it if I called you Jessica? How would you like it if I called you someone else's name?"

He then pushed her off the bed, she testified under questioning by Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Bretschneider.

The woman, a nurse and single mother, and another woman, a law-school student when she met Marsalis, both testified yesterday on the fifth day of Marsalis' trial on rape charges. They both met him through match.com and believed he was a doctor, they said.

The women, each 5-feet-9, are taller than the previous alleged victims who have testified.

They also separately told the jury that they discovered money missing from their wallets in the morning after their dates. It was the first time the jury heard anything about missing cash.

Prosecutors contend that Marsalis, now 34, who lived in the Metropolitan Apartments, on 15th Street near Arch, in Center City, drugged and raped seven women, six of whom he met on match.com, from 2003 to 2005.

Defense attorneys argue that the women consented to sex after heavy drinking and that there is no evidence of drugging. They also pointed out to the jury that the women did not immediately report any rape allegations to authorities.

The former law-school student, now 32, of South Philadelphia, testified that she had her date with Marsalis on Dec. 30, 2004. They met at Fado, 15th and Locust streets, where she had three beers. She said she believed that she used the restroom once, leaving behind her beer.

They then went to the Irish pub, Tir Na Nog, where she ordered white wine, then went to the restroom. Afterward, she recalled "bits and pieces" of the night, she said. She didn't remember drinking the wine, but recalled being in his apartment later "feeling very intoxicated," she testified.

One thing about his apartment, she said, was he had "the cleanest bathroom I'd ever seen. It was just clinical."

Another memory of that night was "waking up on my back with the defendant in his bed and he was having sex with me," she said under questioning by prosecutor Joseph Khan.

In the morning, she said, she found $50 in cash missing from her wallet, and thought "somebody must have taken it" at one of the bars.

Despite being unsure of what had led to their having sex that night, she said she agreed to go with Marsalis to the Corner Bakery Cafe, then at 12th and Filbert streets, for lunch.

When asked by defense attorney Kathleen Martin if it was "a pleasant lunch," the woman agreed it was.

The single mother from New Jersey testified that when she left Marsalis' apartment the morning after her date with him on Nov. 12, 2004, $20 was missing from her wallet.

"He again was upset with me," she testified, adding that Marsalis allegedly said, "Christ . . . now I have to walk with you to a f------ MAC machine."

After she took out $60 from an ATM, Marsalis allegedly told her the "alcohol bill was quite expensive," and "it would be good if I paid my share," she testified. She paid $20 for parking, she said, and "gave him $40." *