THE jurors had not reached a verdict in the jury trial of William Abraczinskas and will continue their deliberation today, Friday, Variety learned.
They began deliberating after the prosecution and defense delivered their closing statements before lunchtime Thursday.
Judge Pro Tempore Elyze M. Iriarte of Guam is presiding over the trial.
Abraczinskas, 36, a former law clerk of Superior Court Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo, has been accused by another court employee of rape, and was charged with sexual assault in the first degree, assault and battery, and disturbing the peace. He has denied the allegations.
His attorneys are Assistant Public Defenders Karie Comstock and Charlene Brown.
In her closing statement, Brown said, “The [alleged] victim texted William right after a violent rape on April 8, 2023, worried that she left William’s car light on.”
Brown said these and other text messages were not between someone who was just “violently” raped, 11 hours ago, and her rapist.
“Two days after the alleged incident, the [alleged] victim was still sending laughing and kissing emojis to William,” she said.
On April 16, 2023, she said the defendant texted the alleged victim if she wanted to come to the Hyatt beach. When she replied, “OK,” the defendant texted back, “Fun! You drive.”
“Then we have the alleged victim testifying that she was alone with William in the car,” Brown said. “She gets in her car with William, her rapist!” the defense attorney added.
“She dropped William in his apartment. That night at the Hyatt is where William let her know that he was not romantically interested in her,” Brown said.
“She [then] started treating him as a coworker, not as a friend, not a romantic interest, no more laughing emojis, no more kissing emojis, just a coworker,” Brown said. “William is a little bit shocked, and texted her, ‘Wait, you don’t want to be friends?’ ”
Brown said the alleged victim is “a great actor.”
“The next day after she was violently raped, no one in her family, on Easter, no one saw bruises or injuries. Not one family member saw anything. Her friends, not one of her friends asked her or saw, after a violent rape, her injuries,” Brown said.
“This case is about humiliation, about resentment, and it is about retaliation. William only wanted to be friends. You did not see him sending texts with kissing emojis. The accuser wanted more,” Brown added.
Not about emojis
Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds and Assistant Attorney General Frances Demapan 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, judiciary deputy clerk Pearleen Matagolai and Beach Garden manager Antonio Reyes testified.
In her closing statement, Demapan said, “This is not the emoji trial. We are not going to decide a sexual assault case based on how a 50-year-old woman decides to use a kissing and laughing face emoji. The defense wanted you to focus on what the victim did or didn’t do, but the victim is not the one on trial here.”
“This is the consent trial,” Demapan said. “This is a trial of a woman who tried to stop a friend, a co-worker from raping her by pleading and crying ‘No! Stop William. Don’t do this!’ ”
“And let’s be clear about the use of this term ‘violent rape’ in this case,” Demapan said. “A violent rape does not need and must result in physical injuries. A rape is against the victim’s free will. A rape is violent because the defendant uses physical force to hold her down. A rape is violent because there is no consensual sex. That’s what makes it violent.”
Demapan added, “This case is about credibility … and whether you find the victim believable, vulnerable, open, and honest with you. We have exposed, dissected, and turned over her WhatsApp messages with the defendant. This is the case where we stop looking at what the victim did to put herself in that apartment, what she did immediately after the rape, and what she did on the ensuing days, and focus on the defendant’s actions.”
