Former Lewiston state Representative Aaron von Ehlinger has filed an official appeal of his rape conviction of a 19-year-old legislative intern.
In the appeal, von Ehlinger alleges the district court during trial erred in allowing certain testimony from a nurse who examined the victim, and that state prosecutors were framing questions to the nurse in order to lead her into making certain statements about the rape.
He was found guilty of forcible rape in April of 2022 and sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
In the appeal filed last week, von Ehlinger and his defense team say the court never should have allowed Faces of Hope nurse Ann Wardle to speak to what the victim told her during her sexual assault examination as that is considered hearsay.
The victim could have corroborated the events Wardle expanded on, but when she was called to testify, she suddenly ran off the stand in what appeared to be a bout of terror. Von Ehlinger’s attorney says that because the victim could then not be cross-examined about the statements she made to Wardle, it violated von Ehlinger’s Sixth Amendment right to confront his accuser.
Von Ehlinger’s defense team says the conviction should be vacated and the state failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
