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Larry Ray is charged in the January assault of a Health System worker. Several alleged statements to police, a security videotape and a photo identification by the victim pinpoint Larry Ray as the man who viciously attacked a University Health System secretary in a Penn Tower Hotel office last January, prosecutors said yesterday in the first full day of testimony in Ray's trial. Ray, 28, of the 1500 block of Hemberger Way in North Philadelphia, is charged with aggravated assault, robbery and burglary. He allegedly robbed the hotel, then savagely beat Toby Laiken, who saw him as she arrived for work at her sixth-floor cubicle at about 5:20 a.m. on January 19. The incident caused administrators to revamp and improve security measures at the 23-story hotel and office building. Outlining his case against Ray in his opening statement, Assistant District Attorney Dino Privitera said the "case is about violence, senseless violence?. Because [Laiken] interrupted a burglary, she was beat again, and again, and again." Laiken suffered serious wounds to her jaw and eye socket, forcing her to be hospitalized for a week. She ultimately had surgery to her lower jaw. Ray's attorney, Valerie Jones of the public defender's office, argued in her opening statement that there is no evidence against her client. "There is nothing to connect Larry Ray to the crime in this case," she said. The prosecution has four primary pieces of evidence: an identification by the victim in a photo spread, an alleged confession by Ray to University Police Detective Patricia Brennan, an account of a confession by Ray to his currently jailed cousin and a security videotape taken at the building's entrance. Laiken testified yesterday that Ray, who was arrested three weeks after the incident, attacked her during the robbery and left her physically shaken. Ray allegedly told Brennan, "If I tell you what really happened, can you make me a deal?" according to the prosecution. Upon being told that the police could not offer him a deal, Ray allegedly told the police to "charge me up" with the crimes. Today's session is set to resume with the testimony of the Philadelphia Police officer who arrested and interviewed Ray at the city police's Southwest Detectives Bureau at 55th and Pine Streets. According to Ray's cousin's alleged statement to the police, Ray said he "beat the shit out of the white bitch," Privitera said. The cousin is presently in jail and is expected to alter his statement in his testimony later in the trial. He will be a hostile witness for the prosecution. Although the prosecution does have a videotape of a man entering and leaving the Penn Tower complex, both sides agreed that the still photos taken from the tape do not clearly identify Ray as the suspect. Police believe, though, that a knapsack Ray collected upon his arrest at work -- at a fraternity house he was cleaning on the 3900 block of Spruce Street -- is the same one carried by the man in the security video. Another possible hurdle for the prosecution is the fact that police lifted 11 fingerprints from the scene but none matched Ray's. Privitera said he believed Ray was wearing gloves. The defense is likely to begin its case today or Monday, and the trial is only expected to last one or two more days. The trial is taking place in Room 1005 of the Criminal Justice Center at 13th and Filbert Streets before Common Pleas Judge Patricia McInerney. Neither attorney nor any of the witnesses in the case would comment until the case is over.

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