ALFRED — Assistant York County District Attorney Thomas Miscio told a jury on Wednesday that Nicholas Norton knocked his girlfriend to the floor of his dormitory room at the University of New England in Biddeford and that when she tried to get up, he allegedly “tackled” her again.

“She’s on the floor and he grabbed her by the shoulder, arms and face and repeatedly smashed her head against the floor,” Miscio told the jury during opening arguments at York County Superior Court on Wednesday. The prosecutor told the jury that Norton put his hand over Summer Bishop’s mouth, put his fingers down her throat, and attempted to strangle her.

Norton, 20, who now lives in Massachusetts, is charged with two counts of aggravated assault, criminal restraint and domestic violence assault stemming from the incident on April 30, 2017, on the university’s Biddeford campus.

In his opening statement, defense counsel Luke Rioux painted a different picture.

“In the end, we have significant questions as to whether he caused the injury and the blood or if there are other reasons,” said Rioux. “You’ll have a question as to whether her story has changed over time because it’s not anchored in reality.”

Rioux alleged Bishop had struggles with alcohol and mental health issues.

“Because of some of these issues she came to a point she made allegations in order to protect herself,” Rioux said.

Norton and Bishop had attended parties that night, Rioux said, but didn’t appear heavily intoxicated. He said the alleged victim in the case was bloody because she had a nosebleed and that Norton was trying to help her.

Norton and Bishop lived at Siena dormitory on the campus, both on the second floor, but in different rooms.

The defense and prosecution both said the two had been out and headed back to the dormitory. Miscio told the jury that Norton had given Bishop his card that authorizes admittance to the dormitory because she didn’t have her own.

He said Norton then went to buy pizza and became upset when Bishop didn’t immediately let him into the building when he returned. Miscio said Norton had been drinking and Bishop became concerned and tried to take his bottle of vodka with her when she attempted to leave and then, the trouble started.

Rioux told the jury a slightly different version but agreed the two began to argue about the delay in Bishop letting Norton into the dorm and that he tried to prevent her from leaving with the vodka bottle.

“She began freaking out,” Rioux said. He said Bishop began screaming and Norton tried to quiet her down.

“In the end, she remained a student at UNE,” said Rioux, “Nick was removed from the school.”

Following opening arguments, two students who were in the second floor lounge of the dormitory took the stand to testify. Tucker Lytle said they were watching the third movie in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy when he heard screams. Initially, he thought the screaming was coming from outside the dorm building but it got louder and he realized it was inside.

“It was a terrifying, blood-wrenching scream,” said Lytle. He heard the words “get off me,” he said.

He went to get the dorm’s resident advisor, Lytle said. When the advisor opened Norton’s door, Lytle said he saw Bishop on the floor, almost in a fetal position, and there was a lot of blood.

He said he helped her up from the floor and that the side of Bishop’s face was covered in blood and that she was spitting up blood.

Campus security, Biddeford Police and emergency medical personnel arrived and  Bishop was taken to hospital, Lytle said. He and a friend drove to the hospital, but were unable to see her so they went back to the dorm. He said she was back in the dorm the following morning.

Student Adrian Figueroa gave a similar account, characterizing the noise he heard as sobbing, and a woman’s voice crying “Let me go, I can’t breathe.”

When the resident advisor entered Norton’s room, Figueroa saw Bishop on the floor, sobbing and shrieking.

York County Superior Court Justice Wayne Douglas said two days had been set aside for the trial.

Several witnesses were scheduled to testify throughout Wednesday afternoon and Thursday.

In a brief interview prior to the start of the trial, Bishop’s mother, Daria Bishop of Vermont, said her daughter continues to suffer from anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder. She said her daughter struggles academically now,  though she had been doing well before the incident.

She’ll never forget the phone call she received from her daughter, who was crying “help me, help me,” Daria Bishop said.

“I want her to heal, and I don’t want him to walk,” she said. “I feel Summer is in prison every day.”

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.

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