Franklin County Sen. Norm McAllister sits at the Statehouse in December. File photo by Jasper Craven/VTDigger
ST. ALBANS — The judge presiding over the sexual assault trial of state Sen. Norm McAllister that is set to begin Wednesday granted a defense motion Monday asking the state to file more specific charges.
McAllister is accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting two women who relied on him for work or housing over a period of more than two years beginning in 2013.
The trial this week — the first of two — pertains to the younger of those accusers, who was a teenager when the state alleges the sexual assaults began. Now in her 20s, she was working for McAllister as an intern in the Statehouse when the most recent assaults are said to have occurred.
“The amended charge will provide everyone a more definite statement of the allegations against Mr. McAllister,” his lawyer Brooks McArthur said of the motion that Franklin County Superior Court Judge Robert Mello granted Monday.
Currently, one felony charge says McAllister engaged in a nonconsensual sexual act with the young woman between May 1, 2013, and Sept. 30, 2013. Another felony charge says a nonconsensual sex act occurred between May 31, 2013, and April 30, 2015.
The young woman told state police investigators that she was forced to have sex or perform oral sex on McAllister close to 30 times, according to the affidavit.
“The complaining witness had made the allegation that upwards of 30 nonconsensual acts occurred,” McArthur said. “We simply don’t believe that, and we’re asking the state to narrow it so that when the jury hears the evidence, they’re going to be able to find beyond a reasonable doubt that a specific act occurred or did not occur.”
In total, McAllister faces three counts of sexual assault and three counts of prohibited acts. In addition to the alleged assaults on the two women, he is accused of soliciting sex from a third woman who has since died.
The sexual assault charges are felonies carrying a potential sentence of three years to life in prison and a fine of up to $25,000.
McAllister was arrested at the Statehouse in 2015. A date has not been set for his second trial.
At least four sitting lawmakers are expected to be called to testify in this week’s trial, which will resolve two of the felony charges.
McAllister appeared in court Monday but did not take questions from the media afterward. His attorney, McArthur, spoke with reporters for about 10 minutes after the hearing.
“We’re absolutely going to go after (the accuser’s) credibility,” McArthur said in response to a reporter’s question.
Also Monday, Mello granted another motion from McArthur that excludes evidence of sexual assaults that are not the subject of the counts being presented at the trial.
“We want the jury to judge Norm McAllister based on the allegations” specified in the two counts being heard, not other acts “a jury might consider untoward or prejudicial,” McArthur said.
McArthur told VTDigger in March that he would argue the sex McAllister had with his accusers was consensual, not that it didn’t occur. On Monday he was more coy. Asked the same question he said, “You’re going to have to wait and stay tuned.”
McArthur scored another victory for his client when Mello ruled that the young woman could not be referred to as a victim, something Mello himself as well as prosecutors had done repeatedly. Instead, she must be called by her name or referred to as the complaining witness.
McArthur argued Monday that calling her a victim in front of jurors would prejudice them against his client.
Mello did not rule on motions that sought to settle whether reporters from Seven Days and Vermont Public Radio could be called to testify based on their reporting on the case. Those motions were taken under advisement.
Jury draw is set for Tuesday, and McArthur said he does not plan to ask for a change of venue. As to whether they will be able to find enough jurors who haven’t made up their mind, McArthur said, “That’s what we’ll find out tomorrow.”
“We’re going to ask potential jurors what they’ve heard and how that will affect their ability to be fair and impartial,” he added.
McAllister was suspended by the state Senate earlier this year, but he filed paperwork to run for re-election to his Franklin County Senate seat last month, ignoring leaders in his Republican Party who have urged him to step down.
“He seems to be doing well. He’s in good spirits,” McArthur said Monday. “He’s eager for this trial to begin. So I would say, given the pressure and media attention, and the way he’s been treated, especially down in Montpelier, he’s in pretty good spirits.”
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