Judge denies request to delay trial for former Idaho representative accused of rape – Idaho Capital Sun

Fourth District Choose Michael Reardon denied a request to postpone the trial date for former state Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger, who’s charged with felony rape and forcible penetration of a international object, and the trial will nonetheless go ahead on April 26.

Von Ehlinger, 39, is accused of raping a 19-year-old legislative intern in March 2021, when the previous intern mentioned the 2 went to dinner after which his condominium. Von Ehlinger has pleaded not responsible to the fees and has mentioned the sexual exercise was consensual.

Von Ehlinger’s legal professional within the case, Jon Cox, instructed the courtroom Monday he anticipated the trial could be delayed based mostly on his understanding of the precedence the courts assigned to jury trials when COVID-19 case numbers have been excessive. In previous instances, the courtroom was giving first precedence to felony trials involving a defendant who was in jail. Von Ehlinger has not been in state custody since he was arrested and launched in October.

Now that COVID case numbers are low, Idaho Supreme Court docket spokesperson Nate Poppino mentioned judges have extra discretion over setting precedence for jury trials.

Idaho justices have talked publicly a few extreme backlog of instances due to the pandemic and a scarcity of judges throughout Idaho. In February, Ada County Administrative District Choose Steven Hippler mentioned conservative estimates of the backlog on felony jury trials in his county was 350 to 500 instances. Reardon mentioned pushing again von Ehlinger’s trial date would solely create a bigger backlog.

“It isn’t well-informed observe to depend on an ad-hoc precedence checklist when there’s an order within the case that’s been excellent that units the case for trial on a particular date, and a date the events agreed to on the time it was set,” Reardon mentioned.

Cox mentioned he had different courtroom exercise and engagements scheduled that will battle with von Ehlinger’s scheduled trial date however mentioned he could be ready for the trial subsequent week if he needed to be.

“It was a mistake on my half to depend on the precedence checklist that had come out,” Cox mentioned.

Von Ehlinger served within the Idaho Legislature for lower than one yr, representing the Lewiston space, after he was appointed to fill the seat held by the late Rep. Thyra Stevenson. Following ethics hearings about his alleged conduct, von Ehlinger resigned his seat on the finish of April 2021.

The trial is scheduled to final 5 days and can start at 8 a.m. April 26. If convicted, von Ehlinger would face between one yr and life in jail and should register with the Idaho intercourse offender registry, in keeping with Idaho Code.