Rodney C. - Trial Victories - Gary Wenkle Smith, Attorney at Law

Rodney C. had no prior criminal history when he was accused of various child molesting crimes with his niece, during a three year period, beginning with her 13th birthday. She had reported a variety of sexual activities occurring on a daily basis. Rodney's bail was too high for him to post a bond, so he stayed in custody while awaiting trial.

His first lawyer had made some serious mistakes, and his family came to me.

During my interviews with family members, it became apparent that the girl's story about daily sexual encounters could not be true. Rodney was at work each day that she claimed he picked her up at school, then brought her to his home and engaged in a variety of sex acts with her. She did not claim that he had forced her to do so, only that she was now suffering from that activity, because she was so young, and Rodney was her father's brother, and the shame and guilt was overwhelming to her. She claimed that she was suffering from "Bulimia", which is an eating disorder that is usually accompanied by Anorexia. Both conditions result in the person being unhealthily underweight. She chose to report her story to her mother when she was in trouble for something else.

During jury selection, there were several law enforcement persons on the proposed panel. I chose to keep them, and, of course, the prosecutor did not choose to excuse them. The remaining jurors were women. My theory was that the law enforcement persons, consisting of one police officer, one prison guard, and two probation officers, were experienced with people lying to them. I wanted women because of some of the evidence that the physician for the prosecution had reported.

The young lady, the alleged victim, was quite overweight, which was clearly inconsistent with her claim of Bulimia and Anorexia. Of utmost significance was the report of the doctor who examined her that her "hymen was intact."

The doctor testified that it was "not uncommon for a woman who has had a long-term sexual relationship involving intercourse" to have her hymen still intact. The women jurors did not believe that testimony. They knew better.

We called Rodney's wife and some of their friends who all remembered where they were on the 13th birthday of the young alleged victim. She happened to share the same birthday as Rodney, and he and his wife, and friends had all gone out together that night, stayed out late, and came back to Rodney's house and stayed up even later. The girl had not been around that day or night.

The jury found Rodney not guilty on all counts, but one. They hung 11 to 1 for not guilty on that count. The prosecutor assured me that he would re-try that charge, so we negotiated a plea to a count of battery at Rodney's insistence. Had he been convicted as charged, he was facing so many years that it would have been the rest of his life in prison.

Gary Wenkle Smith Attorney at Law
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Rodney C.
Rodney C. had no prior criminal history when he was accused of various child molesting crimes with his niece, during a three year period, beginning with her 13th birthday. She had reported a variety of sexual activities occurring on a daily basis. Rodney's bail was too high for him to post a bond, so he stayed in custody while awaiting trial. His first lawyer had made some serious mistakes, and his family came to me. During my interviews with family members, it became apparent that the girl's story about daily sexual encounters could not be true. Rodney was at work each day that she claimed he picked her up at school, then brought her to his home and engaged in a variety of sex acts with her. She did not claim that he had forced her to do so, only that she was now suffering from that activity, because she was so young, and Rodney was her father's brother, and the shame and guilt was overwhelming to her. She claimed that she was suffering from "Bulimia", which is an eating disorder that is usually accompanied by Anorexia. Both conditions result in the person being unhealthily underweight. She chose to report her story to her mother when she was in trouble for something else. During jury selection, there were several law enforcement persons on the proposed panel. I chose to keep them, and, of course, the prosecutor did not choose to excuse them. The remaining jurors were women. My theory was that the law enforcement persons, consisting of one police officer, one prison guard, and two probation officers, were experienced with people lying to them. I wanted women because of some of the evidence that the physician for the prosecution had reported. The young lady, the alleged victim, was quite overweight, which was clearly inconsistent with her claim of Bulimia and Anorexia. Of utmost significance was the report of the doctor who examined her that her "hymen was intact." The doctor testified that it was "not uncommon for a woman who has had a long-term sexual relationship involving intercourse" to have her hymen still intact. The women jurors did not believe that testimony. They knew better. We called Rodney's wife and some of their friends who all remembered where they were on the 13th birthday of the young alleged victim. She happened to share the same birthday as Rodney, and he and his wife, and friends had all gone out together that night, stayed out late, and came back to Rodney's house and stayed up even later. The girl had not been around that day or night. The jury found Rodney not guilty on all counts, but one. They hung 11 to 1 for not guilty on that count. The prosecutor assured me that he would re-try that charge, so we negotiated a plea to a count of battery at Rodney's insistence. Had he been convicted as charged, he was facing so many years that it would have been the rest of his life in prison.