Former legislative intern accusing Aaron von Ehlinger of rape testifies
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Aaron von Ehlinger rape case
Former Idaho state Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger, R-Lewiston, was found guilty of raping a 19-year-old legislative intern by a 12-person jury in April. He is expected to be sentenced Wednesday, Aug. 31.
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Editor’s note: This story contains graphic descriptions of an alleged sexual assault.
A jury soon will determine whether to convict a former North Idaho lawmaker of raping a 19-year-old legislative intern last year, but will be unable to use the intern’s Wednesday testimony to make its decision.
The jury listened as the intern, identified only by the initials J.V. in court documents, briefly testified Wednesday against former Lewiston Republican Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger. After five minutes on the witness stand, the now-20-year-old woman abruptly left the courtroom.
“I can’t do this,” J.V. said as she walked out.
Von Ehlinger is accused of sexually assaulting the legislative intern in March 2021. Von Ehlinger, 39, faces two felony charges, of rape and forcible penetration by use of a foreign object.
Since von Ehlinger’s attorney, Jon Cox, wasn’t given the ability to cross-examine J.V., the jury was instructed by 4th District Judge Michael Reardon that it could not weigh the testimony. The jury is prohibited from using J.V.’s account to reach a verdict unless she returns to the courtroom to testify in full.
When asked whether J.V. would return, Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Katelyn Margueritte Farley on Wednesday said the state had rested its case.
Von Ehlinger, now a Juliaetta resident, has denied all allegations against him. He resigned from the Idaho House in April 2021 just hours after a legislative ethics committee unanimously recommended to expel him from his seat.
Farley asked J.V. multiple times to look at her from the witness stand, to which J.V. responded, “I can’t.” J.V. appeared to be looking at von Ehlinger.
J.V. began to recount the alleged rape, but after she said von Ehlinger placed his fingers between her legs, and testified that she closed her legs at the time, she walked out of the courtroom.
“This case is about power, power wielded in the wrong hands,” Farley said in her opening statement. “On March 9, 2021, the defendant Aaron von Ehlinger wielded that power against a 19-year-old intern.”
Anne Wardle, the nurse who performed the sexual assault kit on the intern, said in public testimony that J.V. told her at the time that von Ehlinger got on top of her, pinned her arms down and forced his penis inside her mouth. Wardle also said J.V. told von Ehlinger she didn’t want to and pulled away.
Von Ehlinger has maintained that he and J.V. had consensual sex.
Cox objected multiple times to Wardle’s testimony and said the nurse shouldn’t be able to testify outside of medical topics by including the details of the alleged sexual assault.
The jury of 13 — seven men and six women, one of whom will be designated an alternate — was selected out of roughly 26 men and 24 women.
Throughout the selection process, prospective jurors shared stories of how they knew survivors of sexual assault, which led to at least six of them being excused. One woman, identified as Juror No. 45, said she has five daughters, which would make her “lean against” von Ehlinger. She was excused.
Jurors on Wednesday heard from a handful of other witnesses, including two Boise police detectives, Brandon Joseph and Monte Iverson, who spoke to J.V. after the alleged rape.
“She was emotional, still kind of in a state of shock,” Joseph said, describing Doe when he met with her.
Von Ehlinger attorney publicly names woman
In the Ada County courtroom packed with potential jurors — before the 13-person panel was selected — Cox publicly named J.V.
Cox then continued to use J.V.’s full name multiple times throughout the day. Once the official trial proceedings began, he switched to using the woman’s initials.
Far-right agitators have publicly named J.V. and included a photo of her. Rep. Priscilla Giddings, R-White Bird, was removed from a legislative committee after she shared a far-right outlet’s article that identified the woman, who was known only as Jane Doe throughout legislative ethics hearings against von Ehlinger.
David Pettinger, who has been arrested at the Idaho Capitol and for protesting outside officials’ homes, has posted J.V.’s legal name multiple times on social media. He was ordered to leave the fourth floor of the courthouse at the request of Reardon.
Annie Hightower, one of J.V.’s attorneys and the director of Law and Policy at the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence, told the Idaho Statesman in an interview at the courthouse that beyond physical safety, the No. 1 concern for survivors is privacy.
Hightower said many survivors of sexual assault fear that it will follow them for the rest of their lives and impact their ability to get a job, among other things.
“So having your name publicly shared would be scary at a minimum,” Hightower told the Statesman.
Boise State University associate professor Laura King on Wednesday was called by the prosecution to testify as an expert witness on the effects of sexual violence. King specifically studies sexual violence and victimization in her research.
Cox questioned King several times on the timing of the sexual assault reports. King said that while most reports of sexual violence are delayed, typically more than 24 hours, reports are sometimes made much longer — even years — after an incident occurs. J.V. reported her alleged rape to the police within two days.
Wardle had also testified Tuesday about what J.V. told her regarding the alleged rape. One detail J.V. focused on was the color of von Ehlinger’s curtains, she said.
King said it’s common for a survivor to focus on a random thing — like curtain colors — during a sexual assault.
“There’s really a variety of ways that people respond to sexual assault and really any trauma,” King testified Wednesday. “There’s no right way to respond.”
This story was originally published April 27, 2022 at 11:09 AM.
