JUDGE Pro Tempore Elyze M. Iriarte denied William Abraczinskas’ request to acquit him of the charges of sexual assault in the first degree, assault and battery, and disturbing the peace after both the prosecution and the defense rested their cases on Wednesday afternoon.
Abraczinskas, a former law clerk of Superior Court Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo, has been accused by another court employee of rape. He has denied the allegation.
His lawyers, Assistant Public Defenders Karie Comstock and Charlene Brown, verbally made a motion for acquittal after the prosecution called its last witness in the jury trial that started Monday.
The defense had no witnesses to call, and Abraczinskas chose not to testify.
Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds and Assistant Attorney General Frances Demapan are prosecuting the case and have called a total of seven witnesses including the alleged victim.
Department of Public Safety Detective Shannon Dela Cruz, Police Officer Hector Efraim, the judiciary’s human resources officer, Michelle Guerrero, and Judge Govendo testified on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the witnesses were Judiciary Deputy Clerk Pearleen Matagolai and Beach Garden Manager Antonio Reyes.
On cross examination by the defense attorneys, the alleged victim maintained that she was raped. She said that after the sexual assault, she was distraught and confused.
The defense questioned the victim regarding the WhatsApp messages between her and the defendant even after the alleged rape.
The alleged victim said that before the sexual assault, she texted the defendant as a friend. She said she sent him videos and invited him out.
Asked whether she sent emojis to the defendant, the alleged rape victim said, “Yes, as a friendly gesture, that is all.”
After the alleged sexual assault, she said she ignored him. “If I see him in this direction, if I am walking down and I see him coming, and there’s no way to avoid him, I will turn back,” she said.
As to what she was thinking after the incident, she said, “I blamed myself for putting myself in that situation. I was feeling guilty. If I reported it, it would cause another absence of a law clerk [for] Judge Govendo. I was contemplating in my mind maybe [the defendant] is not good personally, but maybe he is good at work.”
She added, “I did not want to ruin [our family’s] Easter lunch celebration. If I had reported it, my family would be devastated, and that lunch would turn very depressing…I was really looking forward to that Easter lunch with my grandchildren.”
The jury trial will continue today, Thursday, at 9:30 a.m. The prosecution and defense will make their closing statements and then the court will issue its instructions to the jury.
