Accuser testimony continues in senator sex assault case

(Gregory J. Lamoureux/County Courier via AP, Pool). Vermont state Sen. Norman McAllister stands in court during recess on the first day of his trial on two counts of sexual assault Wednesday, June 15, 2016, in St. Albans, Vt. The 69-year-old Republican.

Following hours of questioning from attorneys representing the prosecution and the defense, a field of 84 prospective jurors was weened down to seven men and five women.

Williams pointed to a pretrial deposition in which the woman said McAllister first sexually assaulted her “the very first day I started” working on his farm.

The first of two sexual assault trials against Sen. Norman McAllister, charged with two counts of sexual assault, on Wednesday, June 15, 2016, in St. Albans, Vt. Norm McAllister took a shocking twist this morning when the state dropped two charges of sexual assault against McAllister, ending a trial that began Wednesday. Norman McAllister two life sentences.

Thursday’s trial was dismissed with prejudice, which means the charges can’t be brought back.

McAllister faces another another sexual assault trial this fall that involve two other women.

The unidentified woman, now 21, testified Wednesday that the longtime Republican lawmaker forced her to perform oral sex on him inside his barn while she was a farmhand on his Franklin County property. She told jurors McAllister forced her to have oral sex and intercourse on a number of occasions.

It was on cross-examination by defense lawyer David Williams that the case fell apart.

Defense attorneys worked to poke holes in the young woman’s testimony Wednesday, trying to prove dates and details simply didn’t add up, and that she was not a credible witness.

McArthur said based on the cross examination of the accuser Wednesday it seemed clear why the state dismissed the charges. “I didn’t want it happening”, she testified. A court hearing will be held on those.

McAllister is on trial on two counts of sexual assault.

Wheeler made the statements before the trial got underway Thursday. One of the two alleged victims in that case has since died, and McArthur said the defense also would challenge the credibility of witnesses in that trial.

McAllister maintains his innocence, and last month declared his candidacy for re-election.

When lawmakers returned in January, the Senate suspended McAllister, in a move unprecedented in Vermont.