Woman unable to consent to sex, attorney says

Alcoholics Anonymous hot-line volunteer Russell Mentzer used "bad judgment" in having sex with a fellow alcoholic who called the hot line for help, but he didn't rape the woman, his lawyer said Monday.

"This probably wasn't the smartest thing in the world to do," Deputy Public Defender John Shugars said as Mentzer's trial on charges of rape and indecent and sexual assault began. "But [was it] illegal?"

The woman told a Cumberland County jury a far different story.

She claimed that Mentzer, 45, of Middlesex Twp., told her to come to his apartment in November 2007 and had her drink wine until she passed out.

She said that when she regained consciousness, she was naked in Mentzer's bed and he was lying beside her.

"I didn't go there for sex. That wasn't in my mind," she said, sobbing. "I went there for help. I didn't even know this man.

"People think that because you're an alcoholic you're an easy mark, and that's not true. ... That doesn't leave the door open that I'll have sex with anybody."

DNA testing showed that Mentzer had sex with the woman, even though he initially denied it, Senior Assistant District Attorney Daniel Sodus said.

Shugars insisted the sex was consensual, but Sodus said the woman was too drunk to agree to have sex with Mentzer, who could be sentenced to prison if convicted of rape.

"If you're going to have sex with another human being, you have to have their consent," Sodus said. "He didn't have her consent. [She] was in no condition to consent."

The woman said she met Mentzer, a fellow alcoholic, only once before calling the hot line that night because she was battling the urge to drink.

"I was upset," she said. "I was struggling emotionally. It's a horrible battle. Alcohol always won with me."

Mentzer told her to meet him so they could "work through it," she said.

When she got to his home, she said Mentzer asked if she had any alcohol, then retrieved a five-liter box of wine from her car.

"I thought he was going to pour it all down the drain," she said. "He didn't do that. He poured me a big glass and said, 'Drink this. It'll relax you.' And I did."

Mentzer poured her glass after glass, she said. She said the last thing she remembers is telling Mentzer her fiance was away on a hunting trip.

The woman said she doesn't recall having sex with Mentzer.

She said she was still drunk when she awoke.

"I was angry. I was confused," she said.

She demanded that Mentzer tell her what had happened, but "I really didn't get an answer from him," she said.

Shugars said Mentzer will testify during the trial, which is to resume today in Judge J. Wesley Oler Jr.'s courtroom.