[S]T. ALBANS — The sexual assault trial of suspended state Sen. Norm McAllister, R-Franklin, is being delayed until May after a request from his defense.
That should allow lawmakers, who may be called upon to testify, to be available without interfering with their legislative duties, because the Legislature typically adjourns in early May.
The case had been scheduled for a pretrial hearing today and jury draw Tuesday in Franklin County criminal court.
McAllister was arrested outside the Statehouse during the final days of the last legislative session. He pleaded not guilty to three counts of sexual assault and three counts of prohibited acts after being accused of extorting sex from two women in exchange for work and lodging, and soliciting sex from a third woman.
The sexual assault charges are felonies that carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The Franklin County state’s attorney’s office agreed to the delay, which the court granted last week. Both sides said they need more time to depose witnesses and consider pretrial motions. The deadline to complete depositions is now April 15, with motions due 10 days later.
The delay was necessitated in part by the court’s ruling on the state’s motions to subpoena Seven Days reporters for material and information related to their coverage of the McAllister allegations.
Franklin County Deputy State’s Attorney Diane Wheeler issued subpoenas in December for two Seven Days reporters and an editor. Wheeler dropped the subpoena for the editor but pushed to compel the reporters to sit for depositions and turn over notes and recordings — efforts supported by McAllister’s defense.
Attorneys for Seven Days sought to have the subpoenas quashed, and in a split ruling, Franklin County Superior Court Judge Robert Mello quashed the subpoena for reporter and political editor Paul Heintz, but upheld the subpoena for reporter Mark Davis.
Heintz interviewed one of McAllister’s accusers and reported she told him the sexual assaults started when she was 15 or 16, and not 18 as she had told investigators. Mello quashed the subpoena because he said any information Heintz has could be obtained from the woman herself.
Mello upheld the subpoena for Davis, who interviewed McAllister at his Highgate farm in October, on the grounds that attorneys on both sides could not obtain the information Davis gathered in any other way.
In Davis’ October story, he reported McAllister told him he had sex with the two women but that the sex was consensual — contrary to what they told investigators. Davis reported McAllister told him the trouble started when he asked one of the women to start paying rent.
In January, after the Senate voted 20-10 to suspend McAllister, he told a group of reporters at the Statehouse that he had not had sex with the women.
McAllister’s attorney Brooks McArthur did not immediately return a call requesting comment Monday, but he recently told The Associated Press that no sexual assaults occurred.
