An assault and harassment trial involving a couple began, ironically, on Valentine’s Day.
“Today may be Valentine’s Day, but this is not a love story. It’s a story about a romance that went horribly wrong,” Prosecutor Cathleen Noone said in her opening statement Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 14.
Martin Arroyo, who lives in Basalt, is acting as his own attorney. He is charged with felony assault, harassment and stalking a woman who works in the medical industry, caring for people with terminal diseases.
Arroyo’s opening statement was succinct. He insisted that prosecutors would not be able to prove he was stalking the woman and then sat down, alone, at the defendant’s table.
Then Noone began playing voice messages for the 13 jurors — 12 jurors and one alternate, seven men and six women — that police investigators say Arroyo left on the woman’s voicemail.
“Tomorrow, everyone is going to know that you paid me to f— you,” one voicemail said.
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