Officer Abused Them, Women Say : Hearing: One woman claims she was raped. Testimony came during a proceeding on whether an ex-San Clemente policeman should be tried.

Three women testified Tuesday that a former San Clemente police officer accused of rape was a strong-arm man who made dates with women while in uniform.

The testimony was offered during the first day of a preliminary hearing to determine if David Wayne Bryan, 32, should be tried on charges of rape, assault and battery, assault with intent to commit rape, false imprisonment and assault under color of authority. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The defense, during cross-examination, sought to show that the three women were actually attracted to Bryan and had invited his advances.

A former clerk at a convenience store in San Clemente acknowledged that she became interested in Bryan when he came into the store on a Sunday evening and that she struck up a conversation. The next day she even discussed possibly going on a trip to Mexico with him, she said.

However, the woman testified, she had no idea when Bryan stopped by her home that week that he wanted to have a sexual tryst. She said he drove her in his car to his house, and on the way ordered her to kiss him. When they arrived, she said, he gave her a tour of his house, ending in the bedroom. She said he then proceeded to rape her. She said during the evening she was raped three times.

Leonard Gumlia, the deputy public defender representing Bryan, described the alleged victim as acting coyly and “playing games” by giving Bryan mixed signals. He said that, for instance, she originally refused to enter Bryan’s car or to kiss him or to go into his house or into his bedroom, but in all those cases she ultimately complied.

Gumlia also pointed out that when Bryan visited her workplace later that night, she asked him to get change for a $20 bill at the gas station across the street. When asked why she did that, she replied, “He was the only person I trusted at that time.”

The woman said she filed a complaint against Bryan to try to scare him because he said he wanted more sexual favors. “I wanted him to know he had done me wrong and he wouldn’t do it again,” she said.

Two other women took the stand to testify against Bryan, a husky man with thinning blond hair and wearing a gray suit and red tie.

One woman said Bryan visited her house in uniform about 15 times. She said she originally met him when he had given her a lift to her home to get a second set of keys after she had locked herself out of her car. On one occasion, she said, Bryan entered her home uninvited while she was in the bathroom, fondled her and pushed her onto her bed before he obeyed her pleas to leave.

A third woman testified that Bryan entered a nightclub where she was sitting with friends and insisted that she come to his home. When she refused, she said, he pulled her by the arm to the parking lot and pinned her against a car, where they had a heated discussion before he left.

“I hid for days afterward,” she said, adding that she did not know why she had not filed a criminal complaint against him.

Gumlia pointed out that the woman and Bryan had recently been living together. “It was, in effect, a spousal dispute,” he contended.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jan C. Sturla said the case illustrates the problems involved in prosecuting date rapes.

“Heaven forbid that a woman who agrees to be alone with a man should be subject to whatever sexual activities he would wish,” he said.

The hearing continues today before Municipal Judge Ronald P. Kreber.