A jury of eight men and six women will determine the fate of a local man who faces a battery of domestic violence charges in a relationship that quickly deteriorated after the couple met on an Internet dating site.
The three-year relationship came to a crashing halt last summer.
Allen Dietz, of Dolores, is on trial in District Court for assault, menacing, sexual assault, harassment and false imprisonment as acts of domestic violence. The charges stem from three incidents in June, July and August of 2014.
Opening statements on Thursday, Aug. 6 included 15 minutes of audio recordings played by prosecutors, who asked jurors to listen to the alleged victim. Defense attorneys countered in opening remarks that the case was based solely on accounts from the woman, who never said “no” to sex.
Chief District Court Judge Doug Walker told the 12 jurors and two alternates selected late Wednesday to consider only the evidence and testimony. He cautioned that sympathy or prejudice shouldn’t sway their verdict.
During the voir dire process on Wednesday, a pool of 66 jurors whittled down from the 117 who appeared on Monday, was questioned in open court.
Those who indicated they would have difficulty being fair and impartial were excused. They included a man who said he had been exposed to domestic violence as a child, a woman who said she might be swayed by gossip at work, a man who indicated his daughter had been victimized and two women who stated it was unacceptable for a loved one to ever use a racial or sexual slur toward their significant other.
During the trial, which is expected to end next week, District Attorney Will Furse plans to introduce three audio recordings made by the alleged victim. Ranging from 15 to 90 minutes in length, the recordings contain “vile” racial and sexual slurs hurled at her, Furse said.
During the jury selection process on Wednesday, public defender Kenneth Pace questioned jurors about the power of language in relation to what he described as a “plethora” of racial and sexual slurs that would be heard at trial. Nearly everyone in the jury pool indicated that the verbal attacks were offensive and evoked powerful emotions. Some jurors stated that anyone who used those words was likely disrespectful, a bully and/or ignorant.
Earlier in the week, jurors arrived in groups of six to eight every hour for individual questioning. In a ruling issued last meek, Walker ordered that juror interviews would occur in open court, unless an individual requested to be questioned privately.
Despite the court’s ruling, public defender Amy R. Smith on Tuesday morning twice requested that potential jurors be questioned in chambers regarding pretrial publicity. Smith argued that a juror’s reply could taint the opinion of other potential jurors. Walker rejected both demands, issuing a stern admonishment.
“Move on,” Walker told Smith. “I will find you in contempt if you continue to object.”
After the reprimand, the defense requested a mistrial. The motion was denied, but a compromise later sequestered the groups of potential jurors into a separate room during public individual questioning.
Individual voir dire was limited to jurors who indicated in a juror questionnaire on Monday that they may have been influenced by pretrial publicity or by personal experience related to sexual assault.
According to court records, Dietz reportedly threatened the woman with physical abuse to engage in sex throughout the couple’s relationship. Dietz has pleaded not guilty to a total of 15 felony and misdemeanor charges.
tbaker@cortezjournal.com
