Former Idaho Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger takes notes Tuesday during the opening day of testimony in his rape trial at the Ada County Courthouse. | Brian Myrick, Idaho Press
EDITOR’S NOTES: This story contains graphic descriptions of an alleged sexual assault.
BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — A jury will soon 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 brief Wednesday testimony to make his decision.
The jury listened as the intern, identified only by the initials JV 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,” JV 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 JV, the jury was instructed by 4th District Judge Michael Reardon that it could not weigh the testimony. The jury is prohibited from using JV’s account to reach a verdict unless she returns to the courtroom to testify in full.
When asked whether JV 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 an ethics committee unanimously recommended to expel him from his seat.
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Farley asked JV multiple times to look at her from the witness stand, to which JV responded, “I can’t.” JV appeared to be looking at von Ehlinger.
JV began to recount the alleged rape, but after she said von Ehlinger placed her 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 JV 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 JV told von Ehlinger she didn’t want to and pulled away.
Von Ehlinger has maintained that he and JV 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.
VON EHLINGER ATTORNEY PUBLICLY NAMES WOMAN
In the Ada County courtroom packed with potential jurors — prior to the 13-person panel being selected — Cox publicly named JV
Cox then continued to use JV’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 JV 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.
RELATED | Rep. Priscilla Giddings censured, removed from legislative committee by Idaho House
David Pettinger, who has been arrested at the Idaho Capitol and for protesting outside officials’ homes, has posted JV’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 JV’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 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.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism