By Matthew Torres
WOODLAND, CA – In just a few short hours, the jury concluded its deliberations Thursday afternoon at Yolo County Superior Court in the sex crimes case of the accused, and returned with a guilty verdict.
The jury began their deliberation Thursday morning after closing arguments concluded Wednesday afternoon.
Judge Timothy Fall read all 56 charges of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 along with their enhancements, confirming with the jury their final verdict.
Deputy Public Defender James Bradford then requested the jurors be polled to ensure their votes were unanimous throughout. This procedure has the judge ask each individual juror whether they agree with the final verdict and affirm their vote. All jurors affirmed their guilty vote.
Following the polling, the jury listened to 13 additional allegations brought against the accused, one of which was the abuse of a position of trust as the victim’s guardian. They were sent to deliberate again and returned less than 10 minutes later with an additional guilty verdict on all charges.
The accused will be sentenced later.
Deputy District Attorney Garrett Hamilton Wednesday started his closing argument with the statement, “[The accused] is a child molester.”
He told the jury in both his opening and closing statements that the accused is a child molester, and that defense counsel will try to argue that the accused committed the “good” type of molestation.
The DDA said there is no good type of molestation. Hamilton also argued that this abuse happened between a 12-year-old girl and a man that was supposed to be taking care of her.
He stated that some of the phrases that the accused said such as “it was like lovers making out…she was fully developed and I was lustful,” and “this wasn’t her first time kissing” are not phrases that should be used to describe the molestation of a young girl.
PD Bradford explained what beyond a reasonable doubt means in terms of this case, noting if jurors have any bit of doubt in some of the evidence that has been presented during the trial then they should not find the accused guilty.
Bradford argued the accused is not trying to deny that he had touched the victim. He stated that in the interrogation video they watched him admit to touching and kissing her. But the accused had not done more than that, and he had not done it the 28 times for which he is being charged, said the PD.
For more: https://davisvanguard.org/2022/06/-child-molestation-trial-goes-to-jury/