By Douglas Walker

Muncie Star Press

MUNCIE – A former Muncie woman whose 2012 arrest drew national attention — and likely produced a considerable amount of wincing — will apparently contend she was acting in self defense when she tore a former boyfriend's scrotum.

Christina Lorina Reber, 45, now of Marion, is set to stand trial March 12 in Delaware Circuit Court 1 on a charge of aggravated battery, a Class B felony carrying a standard 10-year prison term.

According to a probable cause affidavit, a Muncie man reported in March 2012 that Reber had entered his westside home, hit him several times in the head and then "grabbed his scrotum and began squeezing as hard as she could."

Reber maintained a tight grip as she and her alleged victim — who said he had recently ended their "on-again, off-again" relationship — fell to the floor, the affidavit said. The man was later treated at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital for what authorities called a "long tear on his scrotum."

With the trial approaching, Reber's attorney, Zaki Ali of Anderson, on Friday filed a "belated notice of self-defense." Eric Hoffman, Delaware County chief trial deputy prosecutor, said Monday he did not plan to contest that filing.

In a recent pre-trial ruling, Judge Marianne Vorhees wrote Reber would likely not be able to present the testimony of an "expert" witness to discuss a theory that the alleged victim's reported wearing of a personal device had somehow made him more susceptible to the injuries.

That potential testimony had been suggested by Reber's former attorney, not Ali.

Whether jurors will be able to review some or all of a reported 500 pages of text messages between Reber and the alleged victim has also been a topic of pre-trial debate.

A lawsuit filed by the alleged victim against Reber was recently placed on hold pending resolution of the criminal case. The attorneys in the suit reached an agreement last year for Reber to "deposit (at the county clerk's office) any income or other proceeds" that might result from a proposed television interview.

The alleged victim's attorney in the lawsuit, Bruce Munson, wrote that he had been told Reber's lawyer was "approached by a national television."