SECOND TRIAL DATE SET FOR McALLISTER
By Gregory J. Lamoureux
ST. ALBANS: August 9th will be a big day for Senator Norm McAllister. That will be the day voters decide if he is worthy of their vote in the Primary Election. It will also be the day that the jury is selected for his second trial.
The trial is scheduled for Wednesday, August 10th through August 12th.
McAllsiter is in a legal battle over sexual allegations with a tenant he rented a trailer to for about two years.
A trial back in June ended when the accuser in the case admitted to lying on the stand.
A number of inconsistencies appeared to be revealed when the defense questioned the accuser in the first trial.
Prosecutors have said that the lie was not enough to prosecute the accuser for perjury.
The second trial, which involves similar allegations from another woman, is scheduled for three days starting Aug. 10. McAllister’s accuser, in this case, says he exploited her in a scheme to trade sex for work and lodging, spelled out in great detail in a separate civil lawsuit. That suit is on hold until the criminal case is resolved.
At trial in August, McAllister, 64, faces one felony count of sexual assault and two misdemeanor counts of prohibited acts. One of the misdemeanor charges stems from allegations he solicited sex from the mother-in-law of his accuser to pay her son’s rent in a trailer McAllister owns. The mother-in-law died last year, but the state has not dropped that charge.
Experts in the legal community expect that the defense will file a motion for the charges related to the deceased witness to be dropped, but no motions have been filed as of press time.
The felony charge carries a sentence of three years to life in prison and a $25,000 fine, while the misdemeanors carry a possible one-year sentence and $100 fine.
Assistant State’s Attorney Diane Wheeler, the prosecutor in the case, told media that she did not believe that the failed case about the senator would have any affect on the next trial.
“That’s what the process of picking a jury is,” said Wheeler “to weed out any potential issues.”
Wheeler said she would not speak on her confidence of the next case. “We’ll present it to the jury and let them decide,” she said.
McAllister and his defense attorneys both declined to answer questions about the upcoming trial after Monday’s hearing.
Norm McAllister’s son, Heath did speak to the media after the hearing. He said that the heavy media coverage and false allegations had taken a toll on him, his father and his family.
“All for a lie that means nothing in the end. It didn’t cost (the accuser) a dime to get it to this point, and you just let it go. What the hell kind of (precedent) does that set?” Heath McAllister said.
Heath McAllister said he believes the accusers are “trying to exploit [Norm McAllister] for their own gain.”
That woman was also trying to avoid paying rent and ensure her ex-husband could live with her in a trailer on Norm McAllister’s property when the state’s investigation began, according to Heath McAllister.
The woman, in her 40s, still lives in that trailer, Heath McAllister said, though Norm McAllister had sought to evict her, and his criminal defense team had suggested she was living out of state.
Heath McAllister suggested the two women were in cahoots, saying “these people are together.”
“You’d have to believe he went from a loving husband of 43 years to some kind of animal, and if you’re the type of person that believes that, you’re a special type of person in your own right,” Heath McAllister said.
