Crime and Courts

University of Montana faculty member testifies in Johnson rape trial

Posted: Feb 21, 2013 8:42 AM by Irina Cates - MTN News

MISSOULA - A University of Montana Pharmacy School faculty member testified Wednesday in the Jordan Johnson rape trial about what the alleged victim went through.

Lori Morin said the woman was nervous, hesitant and cried on and off as she told her what happened two days after the alleged incident. Morin also testified that she told the woman about different resources available to help her.

Defense attorneys suggested the accuser came to Morin for special attention, but Morin said that was not true.

She also told the jury about the day the woman saw Johnson on campus for the first time since the Feb. 4, 2012 alleged incident, saying the accuser was a wreck when she came up to her office and clung onto her.

"I mean, no one can just fake what she was experiencing. And my family will tell you I'm not a crier, but I can't think about that event without just absolutely being overcome with emotion. I have never seen a person so terrified," Morin, the UM Pharmacy School Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, said on the stand.

A string of other prosecution witnesses, including friends and roommates, also testified on Wednesday that the alleged victim changed and became withdrawn.

The defense expressed some concern about not having enough time to present its side of the case, but Judge Karen Townsend told them that won't be an issue. She said that if the trial goes longer than expected, then she will rearrange her schedule.