Donastorg found not guilty

His attorney, Gordon Rhea, patted him on the back to comfort him.

Assistant Attorney General Claude Walker and V.I. Police Detective Deborah Jack sat speechless.

Such were the reactions to the jury’s verdict: not guilty.

The jury reached the decision Thursday night in the trial of Donastorg, 47, who had faced five counts stemming from 19-year-old Keturah Ernest’s report that he assaulted her on Jan. 28. The charges were third-degree assault, two counts of aggravated assault and battery, brandishing a deadly weapon and using a dangerous or deadly weapon.

“Thank you, Jesus,” his family and supporters shouted, raising their hands in unison, prompting V.I. Superior Court Judge Adam Christian to pound his gavel to restore order inside the courtroom.

After the verdict was announced, Christian declared Donastorg, a seven-term senator, a free man.

“You have been tried before a jury of your peers and have been acquitted of all counts,” Christian said. “You’re discharged from the conditions placed on you.”

Outside the courtroom, Rhea said the verdict vindicates his confidence in the justice system.

“There were 12 people who didn’t know about the incident; they heard the case for four days, deliberated for five hours and found Sen. Donastorg not guilty,” he said. “The verdict fits the evidence. This case should have never been brought and never been in a court of law. I wish the senator the very best, and I’m sure he will continue to devote his efforts to the good of the island.”

Commenting on Ernest’s testimony, Rhea said, “It underscored her aggressiveness, her aggressive behavior and her unreliability.”

Donastorg, surrounded by an entourage of supporters and his wife, declined to comment.

Walker, the prosecuting attorney, said it was a well-fought case, one that was very tough to begin with.

“This type of case is as hard as they come, because the prosecution is fighting an uphill battle from the very beginning with the reluctant witness,” Walker said.

Prosecutors charged that Donastorg assaulted Ernest after she showed up at his Wintberg home with a friend on the night of Jan. 28.

According to a seven-page police statement that was signed and dated by Ernest, Donastorg threatened Ernest and her friend with a gun when they went to his house. Donastorg then drove Ernest to her mother’s house in Santa Maria and Ernest told police that Donastorg choked her when she did not want to get out of his car, then forced her out, threw her belongings to the ground and drove off and left her.

A month later, Ernest, through her attorney, Judith Bourne, produced a statement denying that she was assaulted.

The prosecution rested its case Friday on the testimony of Chadicia Mellow, 20, who said she was with Donastorg in his house on Jan. 28, the night Ernest came there.

Mellow told the court she presently has an intimate relationship with the senator and has been in a relationship with him for about a year. She testified that she last spoke to him Sunday night.

Mellow, who works at Kokopelli Cafe, said she met Donastorg while he was a customer at the restaurant.

Mellow had just gotten off work about 10 p.m. and drove to Donastorg’s house in her mother’s black Blazer.

Mellow said Ernest came to the house about 11 or 12 o’clock.

“The first time she came, she was knocking on the back window. He asked who it was; she wouldn’t answer. He went outside with his black-and-silver handgun. After he saw who it was, he came back inside and put the gun on the printer,” Mellow testified. “When he went outside, he said, ‘I can’t believe that —-,’ and he told her to get in the car, and they left in his black Mercedes,” she said.

Mellow said Donastorg returned to the house about 10 or 15 minutes later.

Ernest also returned later, Mellow testified.

“She came back a second time; she pounded on the back window again, and his white pit bull, Snow, was barking. He went outside and they left five minutes later,” Mellow said. “I didn’t see what they left in the second time. The first time it took him about 10 to 15 minutes to get back to the house; it took him a bit longer the second time.”

When she was being cross-examined by Rhea, Mellow went into a bit more detail.

“I was sitting on the chair eating some food I had brought from work; the senator was on his computer. The dog kept barking; somebody kept knocking on the window. He was asking who it was,” Mellow testified.

“He picked up his handgun. He opened the door, and he stepped outside. I just heard him say, ‘You have to be —-ing kidding me.’ I think she was crying. He came back inside and put the handgun on the printer.”

Mellow told the jury that she did not see Donastorg point the gun.

“When he stepped out, he closed the door and told me to stay inside, but I went to the window. He told her to get in the car. They left, they stayed 10 to 15 minutes. Then she came back pounding on the window again. He went outside, they left again. I didn’t see what car they went in, because I moved away from the window,” Mellow testified.

After the prosecution rested its case, Rhea did not call anyone to the witness stand.

Before jurors were sent off to deliberate, they listened one more time as Walker and Rhea rehashed their versions of the evidence, presenting their versions in their closing arguments.

“Each witness I presented to you gave a portion of the story. Rarely you would have a witness who would see everything that happened. Use your common sense; draw from your human experience; put these pieces together. You decide credibility,” Walker said.

“I believe when you do that, you’ll find the defendant guilty on all counts. I ask you to demonstrate the level of bravery Ms. Ernest demonstrated when she refused to be disposed of like a disposable item,” Walker said.

Rhea told the jury, however, that they could have reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s theory as he asked for a verdict of not guilty.

“We heard in this courtroom from people who actually saw the event. There were three witnesses brought to you by the prosecution — Mellow was inside the house, she saw what happened: the senator did not point the gun at anyone and no crime took place,” Rhea said. “Then we had the lady who lives across the street who said there was no threat, no assault and she didn’t notice any gun involved.

“We heard from the complaining witness who said on the night in question, she was childish, angry and she was the aggressive person,” Rhea said.

— Contact reporter Corliss Smithen at 774-8772 ext. 302 or e-mail [email protected].

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