Prosecutors and defense attorneys in the high profile criminal case of Veronika Rodriguez, a Middletown woman accused of falsely reporting that she was raped and illegally recording the man she says assaulted her, appeared in court on Thursday to ask Judge Charles Jones to admit or bar various items of evidence at the trial scheduled for May 19.
Rodriguez, a member of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, was charged in 2023 with two counts of felony wiretapping and a misdemeanor charge of making a false report to law enforcement. The charges followed Rodriguez’s report to police that she was sexually assaulted that January by another guardsman at Fort Indiantown Gap.
Police allege that Rodriguez falsely told them she was forced to engage in sexual intercourse and that she illegally recorded parts of the alleged non-consensual encounter.
Pennsylvania is a “two party” state, meaning that, with certain exceptions, both parties to a conversation must consent to being recorded.
After she reported the incident, Rodriguez consented to a search of her phone, which police and prosecutors claim uncovered the recordings plus text message threads and photos – some explicit – that show the encounter was consensual.
An expert hired by Rodriguez’s lawyer, Ian Ehrgood, concluded that the she was in fact sexually assaulted and that denial and rationalization are common reactions by sexual assault victims, explaining the texts that could on their surface suggest consent.
The case has drawn widespread attention, particularly from supporters of Rodriguez who accuse Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf of not aggressively prosecuting sex offenders. As a result, Jones issued a gag order preventing the parties or those working for them from discussing the case with anyone.
In a darkened courtroom, Assistant District Attorney Amy Muller projected some of the texts exchanges discovered on Rodriguez’s phone and argued to Jones that a jury could find they show a consensual sexual encounter.
Muller added that jurors could find that the texts also show Rodriguez had a motive to lie because she was afraid her sexual encounter with someone who outranked her would be considered improper “fraternization,” jeopardizing her future with the guard.
Muller asked Jones to limit what the defense’s expert witness could testify about at trial, arguing that aspects of his opinions are irrelevant to the charges.
Defense attorney Ehrgood challenged the prosecution’s interpretation of the text messages and told Jones that his expert’s testimony should not be limited at trial.
Jones did not rule from the bench on either side’s requests, and indicated that he would announce his decision by the start of trial.
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