The former girlfriend of a man who claims to be a "Prophet for Jesus" testified in Blaine County Magistrate Court on Tuesday that she was physically abused by the man to "let the demons come out."
"We had been arguing a little bit and then he punched me in my lower left jaw and grabbed my hair," said the woman, a 27-year-old Blaine County resident, referring to an alleged incident on April 22 when she and 30-year-old Christopher D. Pothier were driving from Twin Falls to the Wood River Valley.
The woman's testimony came during a preliminary hearing for Pothier, who is charged with felony "domestic battery resulting in traumatic injury." At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Casey Robinson ruled that sufficient evidence was presented to send the case for further prosecution to Blaine County 5th District Court.
The Idaho Mountain Express is not revealing the woman's name because she is the former victim of sex crimes allegedly committed in Blaine County by the same self-proclaimed prophet. Those charges were dismissed last summer after the woman informed that Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney's Office that she would not testify against Pothier and that the "allegations were blown out of proportion."
But she was willing to testify to the latest allegation of violence committed against her and took the stand for about an hour and a half at Tuesday's court proceedings.
Small and frail looking, and likely not weighing more than 100 pounds, the woman arrived late for the hearing, which was delayed for a about a half hour from its 9 a.m. scheduled start time. She didn't look at Pothier, who was standing in the hallway, when she entered the courtroom. A few minutes later, Pothier walked into court as if looking for someone, momentarily caught the alleged victim's attention and winked at her.
The judge later admonished Pothier not to make gestures to the woman after he waved to her in court when she identified at the beginning of her testimony.
The woman said she and Pothier were driving to the Wood River Valley when he first assaulted her on April 22. She testified that she was driving and listening to voice mail messages on her cell phone when Pothier grabbed the phone, which caused her to jerk the steering wheel. She said she then pulled over to the side of the road and was punched in the jaw.
"He grabbed my hair and pulled me over on the floorboards," the woman said, adding that while on the floor of the vehicle that the defendant was "grabbing my arms, grabbing my body, grabbing my hair."
In response to a question from Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Matt Fredback, who asked the woman what Pothier said to her during the alleged attack, the woman said, "I try to block that out, but, 'let the demons come out,' and I really can't remember all of it."
The woman testified that Pothier again physically assaulted her the following morning when they were staying at her aunt's home in Gannett.
"He threw me on the ground and got on top of me," she said.
Fredback introduced photographs that showed bruises on the woman's arms and legs and a cut behind her ear that the woman testified were inflicted by Pothier.
Public defender Douglas Werth asked the woman during cross-examination whether she had ever recanted testimony before against Pothier.
"You mean when he raped and kidnapped me and bashed my head," she responded, referring to last summer's allegations when Pothier was charged with five felonies against the woman.
"I never recanted," she said, but acknowledged that she wanted that those charges dismissed against Pothier, "maybe because he was threatening me, or because I was trying to protect him because we were romantically involved."
"I didn't want to send him to prison for 18 years to life," she said.
Pothier appeared at Tuesday's hearing in nicely pressed clothing and not wearing the robe that he has been seen in before. He did not testify, but frequently conferred with Werth during the hearing and frequently tried to make eye contact with the woman.
He declined to comment to the Idaho Mountain Express, other than to say, "Thank you for all your nice press."
Christopher Pothier listens to testimony Tuesday at a preliminary hearing in Blaine County Magistrate Court. Pothier, who has claimed to be a “Prophet for Jesus,” is charged with felony domestic battery for allegedly beating his former girlfriend to force her to repent. Photo by Willy Cook
