Ghostbear trial expected to go to jury today

The judge in the rape trial of Edward Harold Ghostbear expected to turn the trial over to the jury today, with the defense expecting to call its last witness — the defendant — this morning.

State District Judge Dan Boucher told the jury Monday that he expected to send them today to deliberate on their verdict in the trial of Ghostbear.

"We will give it to you tomorrow, " he said Monday afternoon.

Ghostbear, born in 1977, is accused of molesting the 7-year-old daughter of his girlfriend while he was staying in the homeless shelter in the basement of the Branded by Fire ministries church on 2nd Street and 6th Avenue.

The defense has said the allegations are false, brought by a disgruntled girlfriend who wanted to put him in jail no matter what because she believed he was cheating on her.

The prosecution has said that is not true — the girlfriend simply wants him out of her life, and out of her daughter's life.

The woman also testified that she is torn and still has romantic feelings toward Ghostbear.

Ghostbear originally was charged with molesting the girl within a time frame of when he started staying in the shelter, where he moved after being released on jail on a charge of his assaulting the girl's mother. The judge issued a protective order following his being charged with the assault which prevented his staying in the woman's residence.

At the request of the mother, the order was amended to allow Ghostbear to have contact with her and her daughter.

The mother, and her daughter, testified during the trial that the daughter disclosed on Jan. 8, one day before the girl's eighth birthday, that Ghostbear had touched "her bad part" while he was watching her that day in the shelter.

The girl had been taken to Ghostbear, who regularly watched over the girl, after the girl's mother had been out drinking the night before and her friends believed she should not be watching over her daughter in her intoxicated state.

The charges in the sexual assault case later were amended to cover the period of time from the time the three — Ghostbear, the alleged victim and her mother — moved to Havre from South Dakota in January 2011.

The court was recessed shortly after 4:30 p. m. Monday after defense attorney Dan Minnis said he only had one witness left to call — the defendant.