United States of America v. Dominic Cortez Nichols

Seattle, Washington, criminal defense lawyer represents the Defendant charged with sexually assaulting the woman in the seat next to him on a flight from Honolulu to Seattle.

Reported by Kent Morlan

As a Delta Airlines flight boarded in Kona, a female passenger found

Dominic Cortez Nichols, age 31, from Kansas, sitting in her assigned window seat. Rather than get up and allow the victim to move into the seat, Nichols moved into the middle seat and forced the victim to climb over him to claim her seat.

With less than two hours to go in the overnight flight, the victim was attempting to sleep with her hands placed between her thighs when Nichols reached his hand between her hands and reached down to touch her inner thigh and groin area. The victim immediately hit the flight attendant call button and was moved to a different seat.

The charge contained in the criminal complaint is only an allegation. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Abusive sexual contact aboard an aircraft is punishable by up to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine.