Woman halts testimony in Idaho rape trial

April 28, 2022
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A woman who reported she was raped by an Idaho lawmaker while serving as a legislative intern testified in the former lawmaker’s trial on Wednesday, haltingly describing the moments the assault began before abruptly leaving the witness stand.

“I can’t do this,” the woman said, quickly walking out of the courtroom.

The woman who has been sexually assaulted has been referred to in this case as “Jane Doe” at her request.

Doe was a 19-year-old intern when she told her supervisors that then-Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger, a Republican from Lewiston, raped her at his Boise apartment after the two had dinner at a restaurant.

Von Ehlinger, 38, has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of rape and sexual penetration with a foreign object and maintains the two had consensual sex. He resigned from the House of Representatives last year after a legislative ethics committee recommended he be banned from the Statehouse.

During testimony Wednesday afternoon, Ada County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Katelyn Farley asked Doe to describe an article of clothing worn by von Ehlinger that day, presumably to identify him to the jury.

“Blazer,” Doe said, taking long looks around the room. When Farley asked her to describe the color of von Ehlinger’s tie, Doe answered, “I can’t.”

Most of Doe’s answers were often one or two words long, and she frequently looked toward the jury or the exit door in the back of the courtroom. At other times her gaze landed on the defense table where von Ehlinger sat with his defense attorney, Jon Cox.

Behind the attorneys, the gallery of the courtroom was full. Journalists, representatives from victim services, and other onlookers sat side-by-side. One of the benches was reserved for a woman with a service dog — the animals are sometimes used to provide a supportive presence for witnesses who are asked to give difficult testimony.

Doe’s voice was quiet, and Cox repeatedly interrupted her answers to say that he couldn’t hear her. That prompted the judge to repeatedly ask Doe to scoot closer to the microphone and lean in.

“I need you to look at me,” Farley told Doe, again.

“I can’t,” she responded, looking again toward the rear exit door.

In response to Farley’s questions, Doe said she ate at a restaurant with von Ehlinger and that afterward he drove her to his apartment in his car. Inside, she sat down and had cookies. “Oreos,” she said.

Then, she said, von Ehlinger picked her up and carried her into his bedroom.

“He laid me down … he removed his clothes … he climbed on top of me … in just his boxers. White T-shirt,” Doe said. “He tried to put his fingers between my legs and I closed my knees.”

At that, she stood up.

“I can’t do this anymore,” she said, fleeing the courtroom.