‘I said no but he didn’t stop’

The alleged victim in a sexual assault case took the witness stand Tuesday in Superior Court and told jurors that she told her alleged rapist “no” even as her assailant continued to assault her.

In the ongoing jury trial of Manolo Romolor, the victim stood behind her claim that Romolor raped her over two years ago despite the defense lawyer finding holes in her story.

During direct examination by Office of the Attorney General’s Teri Tenorio, the alleged victim told the jury and Superior Court Presiding Judge Robert Naraja that, although she doesn’t remember much about the night of her assault, she does remember that she was raped without her consent.

“I told him no, get off of me but he didn’t stop what he was doing to me…He raped me,” she said.

During cross-examination by defense lawyer Bruce Berline, he pointed out several points in her testimony that did not match the interviews she had with investigators, doctors, and even her lawyer, Tenorio, in 2016.

Some of the alleged inconsistencies include the times and the timespan of the incident and how she could not remember the answers she gave doctors, investigators, her lawyer, and more.

The victim did admit that she was not threatened or coerced into having sex with Romolor, but rather she did not defend herself or called for help as she was allegedly being raped.

The victim said that on the night before the incident, November 2016, she had gotten extremely drunk, got sick a few times, and was put to bed by two friends, only to wake up with a man assaulting her that she claims was Romolor.

In her testimony, the victim said that the incident happened following a party at one of her friend’s house. It was her friend’s child’s birthday party. She said she wanted to get extremely drunk at the party because she was upset about an argument she had with her long-distance boyfriend.

The victim said she took over five shots of heavy liquor in a short amount of time and felt sick a little after. The victim said she remembers throwing up twice, taking a bath, getting dressed, and falling asleep on the bed at her friend’s house. The victim added that she later shared the bed with her male friend, his girlfriend, and their three children.

The victim said her sleep was disrupted when she felt the weight of a person on her body, who was painfully kissing her and sexually assaulting her. At first, the victim said she paid no mind because she thought it was her boyfriend but then quickly realized he had already left the island.

The victim said that after failed attempts to look at the man’s face, she stopped trying because she claims she felt helpless and felt no energy until her friend’s girlfriend woke up and punched the man three times until he rolled over beside her. The victim said she still did not know who the man was at that moment.

The victim said as she tried to piece together the events that had just transpired, she felt the man sexually assault her again with his hands and that led her to sit up and exit the room.

Before exiting the room, the victim said she was able to get a good look at the man who just assaulted her twice and it was Romolor.

The victim said Romolor left the bedroom shortly after her and she confronted him, asking him what he had done to her and he responded that he was drunk too.

After the confrontation, the victim said she woke the two other adults in the bedroom, discussed what had happened, and asked her friend to drop her home.