Jury selection held for trial of city man with long history of violence against women

Terrance Sleweon (Police mugshot/2021)

DOVER - Jury selection began today in the trial of a former East Rochester man who is accused of strangling a family member in November of 2021.
Terrance T. Sleweon, 40, with a last known address of 931 Portland St., stands charged with second-degree assault, strangulation, a Class B felony punishable by up to seven years in state prison.
Rochester Police got involved on Nov. 26, 2021, when Sleweon's roommate, who witnessed the assault, notified them that she had driven the juvenile victim to a Nashua Hospital following the alleged attack the night before, according to a Rochester Police affidavit.
In February of 2022 Sleweon was indicted on the charges "in that he knowing engaged in strangulation of (the victim) by placing both hands around her neck and applying pressure, causing her to experience impeded breathing."
A nurse who treated the victim at the Nashua hospital said their face "was purple and puffy around the eyes."
Sleweon was arraigned on the charges on Nov. 30, 2021, at Strafford Superior Court.
Sleweon was also indicted in September 2021 on two counts of DV false imprisonment with a deadly weapon in connection with a May 2021 incident that occurred in Rochester.
In that case, he is accused of confining the woman - an intimate partner - when he threatened (the victim) with a fire poker not allowing her to leave by pointing the fire poker at (while) ordering her to sit on the couch," according to the charging documents. He is also accused of threatening the same woman with a hammer while pinning her down and not allowing her to leave. Both alleged incidents occurred on May 13, 2021.
Sleweon, who has a long history of violence against women, is currently serving a 22-year sentence on an attempted murder charge for stabbing a Bow woman in the neck on Nov. 28, 2021, three days after his alleged attack in East Rochester.

Sleweon was out on personal recognizance bail when the Bow attack occurred.

The current trial is scheduled to begin on Sept. 22 in Strafford Superior Court.
Assistant Strafford County Attorney Joachim Barth said the case has taken this long to get to trial, because Sleweon fired his public defender attorney and is now representing himself.

He said Sleweon has also been granted several continuances by the court.