NOT GUILTY OF GROPING
Texas judge cites accuser’s texts in acquittal of artist
New York art world celebrity Jeff Elrod was found not guilty Tuesday of grabbing a woman’s breast without consent in Texas.
A judge declined to convict the painter after less than two hours of testimony and evidence presented at his misdemeanor bench trial in the artists’ enclave of Marfa.
The judge cited the underlying statue in making her ruling – a simple assault charge that requires proof defendants “intentionally” make physical contact while knowing their alleged victims would find it “offensive or provocative.”
Elrod’s high-powered criminal lawyer Dick DeGuerin grilled the accuser on the witness stand, arguing text messages she sent after the incident last August indicated she had “remorse” for not objecting when he asked to kiss her breast.
In a series of texts reviewed by the Daily News, the accuser told a friend that after Elrod said, “I have to kiss your breasts,” she didn’t push him away.
“I let him,” she said in the text.
“This was a case of two adults drinking and talking about sex, and they were about to leave and perhaps have sex, and the next day the complainant had morning-after remorse,” DeGuerin told The News.
“I know exactly what happened to me that night, and I couldn’t be more disappointed with the total failure of the legal advocacy I was given,” the woman said in an email to The News.
“Despite the cheap bullying and intimidation tactics that the defense counsel had to resort to using, I would do everything I’ve done again because I know in my heart what happened that night, and I believe in the protection of women who have been hurt, no matter how much statutory law says otherwise,” she said.
According to a police report, Elrod and the accuser ate dinner together at an upscale Marfa restaurant the night of Aug. 24, 2018, had some drinks and left through an alley when Elrod allegedly blurted out, “I have to kiss your breasts.”
The woman, whose name is being withheld by The News, told police Elrod stepped in front of her and “grabbed her breast.”
“He then pulled her breast out of her bra and shirt and put his mouth on her breast,” the police report based on the accuser’s statements said.
The accuser told police she was stunned by the overture and did not push him away.
“It all happened so fast I went into a weird shock, like I went into a form of autopilot, and I kept walking,” the accuser said, according to the report.
The prosecutor on the case did not immediately return a call from The News seeking comment.
Elrod, an abstract artist repped by Vito Schnabel who worked for years in Brooklyn and sells his pieces for six figures, said he was relieved with the trial’s outcome Tuesday.
“I am happy that my family, friends, business associates and everyone else finally learned the truth about what really happened on this matter,” he said. “I look forward to moving on with my life.”