'I used to be smart,' victim testifies

The woman buried her face in a white handkerchief, crying as she told a Dakota County jury how a beating, allegedly by her husband, left her with brain damage so bad that she's unable to work.

"I used to be smart," said the woman, who has severe cognitive damage with headaches, memory problems and difficulty with spelling, writing and math. She used to work in the mortgage industry but now has a hard time with numbers, she said.

On trial in Dakota County District Court this week is her estranged husband, Brent P. Selge, 33, of Burnsville. He's charged with first-degree and third-degree assault in connection with the incident last July. He was charged earlier with a pattern of harassing conduct.

On July 5, caretakers of the couple's Apple Valley apartment called police, who found blood pooled and spattered in the garage for apartment 10.

Officers followed a trail of blood to the third floor and found the woman in a hallway, unconscious and bloody, her body scraped from being dragged.

According to police, her husband was standing over her, and both were naked. He allegedly told officers that she had an accident in the garage and he was trying to get her upstairs and that they took off their clothes because they were hot. Both had been drinking.

Defense attorney Beau McGraw said the woman had a blood alcohol concentration of .40, according to tests taken at a hospital after she was injured.

The wife testified of a brief, increasingly violent marriage fueled by alcohol. She told of reuniting with Selge even after she says he beat her.

She testified that on June 6, Selge wouldn't let her go to the hospital for her broken ribs because he didn't want anyone to see her bruises.

So he repeatedly kicked, punched and slammed her to the floor, she said, as she tried to get medical help for her ribs and a severely bruised arm -- injuries that came the week before when he yanked her through a car window.

After he fell asleep on June 6, she ran to the apartment of neighbors, who called police.

Selge visited her on July 5, the day of the injuries for which she was hospitalized for six days.

She had been drinking vodka that day but recalls telling him "it was over" and Selge getting angry, she said.

"The next thing I remember, I was in a headlock and he was punching me in my broken ribs over and over," she said.

Selge has prior convictions for fifth-degree domestic assault and criminal damage to property.

His trial is set to continue this week before District Judge Michael Mayer.