Two Havre men deny guilt in sex case

Two young men who are charged that a post-party event went wrong last June claimed their innocence at their arraignment this morning.

Joseph Sohm and Jacob Konesky pleaded not guilty in state District Court to charges each faced of sexual intercourse without consent.

According to court documents, the incident occurred June 5, 2011, at a party at Konesky's Havre apartment.

There are three accounts — one from the alleged victim and two from the defendants — that all differ in some respects, but they all include the fact that the evening ended with the three of them together in Konesky's bedroom.

The alleged victim claims she was too drunk to drive and didn't trust other drivers who had also been drinking, so she asked to sleep on the floor of Konesky's bedroom, which she did. She claims to have later woken up to find herself mostly undressed and being photographed while someone was "putting objects in" an uncomfortable place.

She asked what was going on.

They told her she had gotten "naked and wanted to have a threesome with us and you wanted this. "

Then she left, she said.

Konesky told police that Sohm was sleeping in his bed when he found the girl sleeping on the floor. He said she complained about being cold so he picked her up and put her in his bed, between himself and Sohm.

He claimed to have slept for about 45 minutes before he "was sitting up, pushing her leg away from him when she awoke and became frantic, " and left the room.

Sohm said he was just sleeping after the party until the girl entered the room and crawled into the bed with him, after which they both passed out. The next thing he remembers, Sohm told the officers, "he woke up when the woman 'flipped out. ' He said she didn't say anything to indicate why she was upset, she had just 'freaked, ' and he believed it was more just 'wastedness' than anything. "

The girl's DNA was found on Konesky's middle finger when both defendants were swabbed.

Charges were filed on Feb. 1.

Omnibus hearings are on hold until a new judge is confirmed. County Attorney Gina Dahl filed a motion to substitute for Judge Daniel Boucher. After the hearing, she declined to explain why she wanted Boucher off the case.