H.R. took the stand today and testified that she brought marijuana to Ehlert’s Stroup party and smoked it with other witnesses.
Guam – Day six of the high-profile case involving University of Guam Professor Michael Ehlert continued with the cross examination of the Prosecution’s last witness, H.R.
Ehlert’s Defense Attorney Jay Arriola filed a motion for a judgment of acquittal on three of the charges related to alleged victims K.P., F.R., and H.R., stating that the jury would not be able to find Ehlert guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
“As to K.P.’s charges, she has no identification of her perpetrator. As to F.R., she did not state that he penetrated her vagina in any way. As to this witness’ charges, we will submit on all the evidence the testimony presented your honor and move to judgment of acquittal on all three counts,” asserted Arriola.
Before Arriola motioned for acquittal, he pressed witness H.R. about the testimony she provided last Thursday. H.R. alleges that while she was at one of Professor Ehlert’s Stroup parties, she was sexually assaulted by Ehlert while in the water at the beach.
H.R. stated, “as I mentioned in my testimony on Thursday, what I do remember, Dr. Ehlert whispering he was saying ‘oh, baby, oh yeah.’ It was like that. You’re right, as I mentioned, he also reached around me and then in front.”
Arriola followed that with: “with his right hand in front of you he put his…”
“He put his hand, as I mentioned on Thursday, he put his right hand under my bikini underwear. Then he put his finger in my vagina. That’s what I said on Thursday and that’s what I am saying today,” HR recalled.
Arriola further pressed HR with the testimony provided by other witnesses in the case
“K.P. indicated you were in a chipper mood, would that be correct or incorrect?”
In response H.R. stated, “I don’t remember.”
“Do you recall seeing the witness around that time in the water,” questioned Arriola.
“Yes, like I said, I do remember.”
Arriola further questioned H.R., “And he said you appeared to be smiling and happy, would that be incorrect or correct?” HR stated, “I wasn’t aware of how my appearance was at that time.”
“I wasn’t aware of how my appearance was at that time,” said H.R.
Arriola also questioned H.R. about smoking a “joint” at the party, stating the relevance of the questioning pertained to her memory. H.R. testified that she brought three marijuana cigarettes to the party, giving one joint to Ehlert, smoking the second joint with two of the witnesses and holding on to the third.
When questioned by Prosecutor Matt Heibel, H.R. stated she was trying to act normal.
“I was still trying to process everything, I guess. Everybody else was acting normal too so I wasn’t sure. I was just trying to process what happened. That’s the way I coped with it,” said H.R.
Trial will continue on Wednesday at 10:30 am with the defense calling their first witness.
