Charges held against Somerset man
A district judge dismissed one count of simple assault but ordered a Somerset Township man to stand trial on other charges Wednesday following a contentious hearing in which his pregnant girlfriend denied telling state police he’d attacked her with a pickax at her home in Ellsworth.
Renee E. Ott gave her account of the alleged Dec. 11 assault by her boyfriend, Chad DeJohn, 35, providing testimony that a prosecutor halted at one point to raise concerns about Ott’s mental health.
Trooper Matthew Terkay said in court papers and on the stand Wednesday he arrived at the North Main Street house to find Ott, who was reluctant to speak to police and appeared to have been crying. He said Ott told him DeJohn struck her in the stomach with “a portion of a pickax” that troopers found at the residence.
Terkay said he saw a clump of Ott’s hair on the floor, a scratch on her right forearm, a small cut above her eye and a red mark on her foot.
However, Ott, whom defense attorney Tyler DeLuco called to the stand, denied telling police DeJohn hit her with the digging tool that night. Instead, she said she woke up DeJohn to confront him after she said she confirmed he’d been cheating on her. She said he ran out of the house, and one of her relatives called police to the home out of concern for her. Ott said she was emotional when she spoke to troopers that night.
“I sat there, shrugging,” she said. “They wouldn’t leave. I asked them to leave.”
Ott’s testimony was interrupted by a lengthy back and forth between opposing counsel after Assistant District Attorney Kristin Clingerman pointed out Ott could be “subject to (the law against) false reports.” Pointing out Ott was taking less psychiatric medication than previously because of her pregnancy, Clingerman expressed concerns about her capacity to make decisions about her testimony. DeLuco contended Ott was “fully aware of all of this.” Thompson allowed Ott to continue after Terkay read Ott her Miranda rights.
Ott also offered explanations for the injuries Terkay described. She said the scratch was made by her beagle earlier that day when she cut his nails, and her hair fell out because of progesterone she takes. Asked about damage to a footboard in a bedroom and chairs that were in disarray, Ott said she was throwing objects at DeJohn as he fled barefoot from the house.
Pointing to testimony that Ott had no marks or bruising on her stomach, DeLuco said during his closing argument that the “main (assault) charge stems from the alleged pickax,” and he said police had misunderstood the situation.
“I think what happened in this case is the troopers got confused,” he said.
Clingerman countered by pointing to Terkay’s testimony.
“It would be ludicrous to believe that a trooper would make that up,” she said, adding Terkay found the implement in the house.
District Judge Curtis Thompson dismissed a count of simple assault but ordered DeJohn to stand trial on charges of aggravated assault against the couple’s unborn child, child endangerment and two counts each of reckless endangerment and harassment.
DeJohn has been in Washington County jail since the day after the incident. DeLuco asked his client be released on his own recognizance, saying DeJohn still would be in custody on a detainer stemming from a state parole violation. Thompson declined that request but cut DeJohn’s bond by half, from $500,000 to $250,000.