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Man testifies no violence occurred over vehicle dispute

File Photo

ALPENA — Robert Hall was allowed into the alleged victim’s house and was willingly given the keys to a Dodge Charger with no violence occurring, he testified in front of a jury on the second day of his trial in Alpena’s 26th Circuit Court on Wednesday.

Hall is charged with one count of home invasion, first degree, one count of motor vehicle-unlawful driving away, one count of stalking-aggravated, one count of interfering with electronic communications, one count of domestic violence, and one count of weapons felony firearm.

The charges are the consequence of an incident on August 3, 2022 in which Hall allegedly assaulted his ex-girlfriend and stole her car.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

During his testimony, Hall painted a different picture of the nature of his relationship with the alleged victim.

Hall alleges that on the day of his release, he reached out to his brother to pick him up if he was able to. After being unable to reach his brother, he started making his way to town on foot from the Alpena County Sheriff’s office.

After walking for a bit, Hall claims that the alleged victim approached him in their car (a different car than the Dodge charger) claiming that they took down a personal protection order they had against Hall. When Hall asked for evidence of this, the alleged victim claimed the papers were at her home.

Hall then claimed that he joined the alleged victim in the car and rode back to the alleged victim’s house. When they got inside the house, Hall said that he once again asked the alleged victim where the paperwork for the PPO was and the alleged victim dodged the question.

Hall then said he and the alleged victim engaged in consensual sex before Hall took a shower and changed into new clothes. Hall said that he asked the alleged victim again about the paperwork for the PPO as well as inquiring about other important documents and the location of the Dodge Charger.

According to Hall, the alleged victim continued to dodge the question on the PPO paperwork after failing to locate it and that the car, tools, and documents were at her parents’ house.

After that, Hall claims that he left to grab a drink and a candy bar. As he was returning, Hall went to go greet sheep on the alleged victim’s property, and while he was doing that, he found his car hidden in the barn along with his tools. Hall then claims that he confronted the alleged victim about this and asked where the keys were.

According to Hall, the alleged victim continued to claim that the keys were with her parents, but after emptying her purse, revealed that the keys were in her bag. Hall took the keys, got in the car and left.

After some internal deliberation, and grabbing a phone charger Hall decided to go to Georgia to visit a family member. He was apprehended by the authorities in Tennessee.

Hall’s telling of events differs from the alleged victim’s telling of events in which they claim that Hall came to their house unannounced and only got the keys to the car after momentarily choking them and threatening them. The alleged victim also claims that the Dodge Charger belongs to them since the title is in their name.

Other witnesses on Wednesday included:

*Deputy Ryan Frost, the first law enforcement officer to respond to the alleged victim’s 911 call; *Alpena County Sheriff Erik Smith, who was brought in by the defense to verify some documents. *A private investigator who was called by the prosecution to illustrate the amount of time that it would have taken Hall to get to the alleged victim’s house if he had traveled on foot using Google Maps.

*Robert Hall’s brother Chad Hall who was called on by the defense to corroborate that Robert Hall did reach out to him about picking him up if he was available when he was released and

*Ryan Hendricks, another deputy of the Sheriff’s Department who claims that he saw Hall in the Dodge Charger the day of the incident.

After all the witnesses went then the prosecution and the defense gave their closing arguments, Judge Ed Black read the jury its jury instructions before releasing them for the evening.

The 12-member jury will reconvene today to deliberate and come to a verdict on Hall’s case.

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