Yuba County trial set in alleged torture, rape

A four-day jury trial is set later this month for a Linda man charged with torturing and raping his girlfriend over three drug-fueled days in April.

Tyrone Laurence "M.G." Dyson has pleaded not guilty to a lengthy list of felony assault charges, including torture, rape, assault with a deadly weapon and false imprisonment.

Dyson, 39, is accused of holding a 31-year-old woman against her will for three days at an apartment complex on Hile Avenue.

Jury selection for his four-day trial begins July 17.

At a preliminary hearing in May, the alleged victim testified that Dyson repeatedly beat and raped her with a knife, a gun, a broomstick and a sex toy.

The woman said the violence began April 28 after Dyson accused her of having sex with "all his friends."

Dyson reportedly told the woman she would be beaten to death as punishment.

Throughout the three-day ordeal, several neighbors came into the house to smoke methamphetamine with Dyson and at least one neighbor was aware of the assault, according to the victim's testimony.

The woman escaped, she said, on the third day when Dyson finally fell asleep.

She also testified that her neighbor, identified only as Becky, refused to help and told her not to call police.

Dyson later told investigators he may have gotten "carried away" during sex, but denied raping and assaulting the woman, according to testimony.

He appeared briefly Monday in Yuba County Superior Court and confirmed he wanted to stand trial.

Dyson remains in custody at the Yuba County Jail with bail set at $1 million.