Von Ehlinger enters not guilty plea
Attorney says former lawmaker was not on the run
After his case was bound over to 4th District Court last month, a former Idaho lawmaker accused of rape has entered pleas for the first time. His trial dates are also set for next year.
Aaron von Ehlinger, a 39-year-old Juliaetta resident, appeared in an Ada County court via video Monday and pleaded not guilty to two felonies: rape and sexual penetration with a foreign object. Von Ehlinger is accused of sexually assaulting a woman who worked as an intern in the Idaho Legislature.
Seated in a Boise law office alongside his attorney, Jon Cox, von Ehlinger told District Judge Michael Reardon that he read the charges against him and understood the allegations. Cox said his client was prepared to enter not guilty pleas, which the court accepted.
With von Ehlinger’s pleas entered, the judge set dates for a jury trial. Katelyn Farley, with the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office, told the court she expected the trial would take four or five days.
After discussing available dates with both sides, Reardon scheduled the trial to begin on April 26.
Von Ehlinger, a Republican who resigned as a member of the Idaho House in April after an ethics panel unanimously recommended his expulsion, was charged on Sept. 9 after a Boise police investigation. The former lawmaker was in Central America when charges were filed, and he was arrested on Sept. 25 after walking off an airplane that landed at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
He was later transferred to the Ada County Jail, where he was booked and released. He has not been in custody since.
On Oct. 29, von Ehlinger appeared in court for a preliminary hearing, where prosecutors called two witnesses to testify about details of the investigation into the alleged sexual assault.
Von Ehlinger’s next court date will be on April 11 for a status hearing.
