Accuser in Chmura Sex Assault Trial Testifies
W A U K E S H A, Wis., Jan. 30, 2001 -- The teenager accusing former Green BayPacker Mark Chmura of sexually assaulting her at a drunkenpost-prom party said today she disliked him because of the way hetreated his wife.
"I disapproved of the way he would just stick her with the kidsand come home separately hours later, it was just very disgustingto me," the 18-year-old, who had baby-sat Chmura's children, tolddefense attorney Gerald Boyle.
The girl also told Boyle she has talked with her friends whohave testified and has seen and heard newspaper, radio andtelevision accounts of the trial.
Boyle told Judge Mark Gempeler he favored moving for a mistrial,but Chmura asked him not to make the request. Waukesha CountyDistrict Attorney Paul Bucher said Gempeler didn't specificallyorder witnesses not to watch television.
"I believe it's just common sense in any exclusionary orderthey don't do that," Gempeler said.
Teen Says Chmura Made Flirtatious Comments
The teenager also testified she told others at the party Chmurawas "sick."
Boyle asked her why she deemed Chmura worthy of that status.Boyle has contended the teenager did not like Chmura and was lyingabout the incident.
The teenager said she disliked Chmura because he madesuggestive comments to her. She also testified she told anotherteen at the party she disliked Chmura because she heard he had achild with another baby-sitter.
Boyle asked the teenager if she felt bad about spreading arumor about Chmura when she didn't know if it was true.
"This was a rumor about someone I strongly disliked andstrongly disrespected, so I didn't care how the rumors spread,"she replied.
Chmura's accuser says Chmura pulled her into a bathroom, pulleddown her pants and had sex with her without her consent. Chmura,31, has pleaded innocent to third-degree sexual assault and childenticement charges, both felonies. He could face up to 40 years inprison and $20,000 in fines.
The teenager said today the first time she baby-sat forChmura's children, his wife paid her with a check.
"I was walking out of the house. Mr. Chmura asked who the checkwas made out to. 'Is it made out to jailbait?"' the teenagerquoted Chmura as saying.
She said another time he asked if her legs were any longer sincethe last time he saw her and once gave a $20 tip because she wascute.
"I think it was disgusting that a married man that old wastrying to hit on me with his wife there," Chmura's accuser saidtoday.
Alleged Attack Described
Monday, she told the jury about the April 9 incident at RobertGessert's home, when she said Chmura called her down the hall,pulled her inside a bathroom and locked the door.
"He started to kiss my neck," she said, sobbing. "It washazy, it was like it was not happening to me."
She said Chmura groped her breast and pulled down her pants.
"He had his other hand on my back and he pulled me down ontothe floor," she told jurors in a Waukesha County courtroom.
"What happened next?" District Attorney Paul Bucher asked.
"He raped me," the 18-year-old girl said.
The teenager, then 17, said she did not yell or try to fightoff the 6-foot-5, 250-pound former football player.
"It was like a dream. I didn't know what was going on. I didn'tknow what to do," she said.
She testified she was only in the bathroom for 45 seconds or aminute, and she quickly put her pants on and opened the door whenshe heard her friend call her from the other side of the door.
Jurors heard that as the post-prom party at Robert Gessert'sHartland home wound down in the early morning hours of April 9,Chmura stood in the doorway of the bathroom, motioned to theteenager and said "Come here." His accuser said she went over tohim because she didn't know what he wanted.
She said she had five or six drinks after she arrived at theparty and Chmura showed up drunk with Gessert, his friend.
She said she had played drinking games with Chmura and sat in ahot tub with him and others earlier in the evening.
Defense, Nurse Dispute Exam’s Findings
A nurse who examined the teenager also testified Monday sheconducted a 1½ hour examination of the accuser and concluded shewas sexually assaulted.
Debra Donovan, a registered nurse at Sinai Samaritan MedicalCenter in Milwaukee, said she examined Chmura's crying accuserwithin hours after the party. She said the teenager told her shewas concerned about confidentiality.
Asked by Boyle whether she had ever written an examinationreport that did not support a sexual assault, Donovan responded,"No."
Her report said the teenager told Donovan she was a virgin atthe time of the assault.
The teenager had minor abrasions and redness but no majorinjuries, which is not uncommon in sexual assault cases, Donovansaid.
Donovan said the teenager told her Chmura had oral sex withher, something that is not in subsequent police reports. Theteenager said Monday that he did not have oral sex with her andshe does not recall telling the nurse about that.
An exam showed the teenager's hymen was intact. The hymen isthe thin mucous membrane that closes part or sometimes all of theopening of the vagina.
Boyle attempted to show that the hymen's condition suggestedsexual assault was less likely, but Donovan disagreed.
Donovan, who said she has performed about 480 sexual assaultexams over eight years, said something can penetrate the vaginawithout disrupting the hymen.
The state rested its case today.
Chmura, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, joined the Packers in1992 out of Boston College. He appeared in two Super Bowls withGreen Bay, but missed most of the 1999 season with a neck injury.The team cut him in June after he was charged.
Another 18-year-old woman at the party has accused Gessert ofpulling her onto his lap and putting his hands in her swimsuit.
Gessert has pleaded innocent to one count of second-degreesexual assault and one count of fourth-degree sexual assault. Histrial is scheduled for March. If convicted he faces up to 30 yearsand nine months in prison and up to $20,000 in fines.