Small Town News

Jury finds man not guilty in child rape case

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A Lincoln County jury has acquitted a 40-year-old Grand Coulee man of first-degree rape of a child and first-degree child molestation.

Ross Booth Gray, who was charged last April in connection with alleged incidents involving a girl who was 3 and a half years old at the time, was found not guilty following a trial that lasted nearly two weeks in Superior Court at Davenport.

Deliberating for the better part of a day, the jury turned in its verdict at about 5 p.m. last Friday - but not without sending at least three written notes to Judge John Stroh-maier, including one that indicated the 12 panelists were struggling to reach a unanimous decision.

"We have reviewed the court's instructions" (as Strohmaier advised in response to the previous two notes) "and will not come up with a unanimous vote one way or the other on both counts," wrote presiding juror Bru McMartin at about 2:32 that afternoon. "We can deliberate longer, but the result will be the same. There is not enough evidence for all of us to unanimously vote without some reasonable doubt."

Strohmaier sent back a request to "please continue to deliberate."

Previously, McMartin had asked just before 10 a.m. for a definition of a legal term. "You will need to refer to the jury instructions previously given," the judge responded.

At 12:20 that afternoon, McMartin queried, "If there are not unanimous votes for each charge, is (the verdict form) checked not guilty or is it considered a hung jury?" Strohmaier wrote back: "Please review the court's instructions and deliberate in an effort to reach a unanimous verdict."

The alleged incidents were said to have occurred at the girl's daycare between Aug. 30 and Nov. 30, 2008, and from Jan. 1 to March 29, 2009.

The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office investigated after being contacted by a nurse practitioner at Coulee Medical Center who had examined the girl at her parents' request. Their suspicions were aroused when the girl reportedly talked about what "Ross" had liked and done to her with his mouth and fingers while hiding from the daycare provider at Lakeview Terrace in an outside playhouse.

Sheriffs Deputy Mark Stauffer collected statements from the nurse practitioner, the girls' parents and grandmother. Special Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jeff Barkdull concluded sufficient evidence was Stauffer attempted but was not able to interview the girl herself, according to court documents filed by the prosecutor's office.

Defense attorney David S. Marshall argued that the state's case rested entirely on statements by the child and her family's "post-complaint, reports that her pre-complaint behavior showed she was disturbed."

During trial, in his questioning of Spokane psychologist Mary Dietzen, Marshall explored issues of "false memory" that he claimed could be involved.

In order for Gray to have been found guilty, the jury was advised by Strohmaier, the prosecutor would have had to prove that "at least one particular act of rape (or child molestation) had occurred" and the jury would have to "agree unanimously as to which act was proved beyond reasonable doubt."

More than two days were needed for jury selection. In the interest of a fair trial for Gray, Judge Strohmaier granted a defense motion to close portions of the selection process to the media and public in order to allow potential jurors to indicate in private whether they had a background or experiences related to child sexual abuse that could affect how they might look at the defendant.

"I certainly hope that everybody in Grand Coulee will recognize that the Ross Gray they thought they knew is the Ross Gray they knew, and welcome him back into the community," Marshall said in an interview Tuesday.

Marshall emphasized that he believes "nobody was lying" in the case, but that memories were naturally distorted to fit a conclusion arrived at by a mother "exceptionally vigilant" and very sensitive regarding child sexual abuse.

"I feel very strongly that justice was done in this case," said Marshall, who specializes in child abuse law.

Scott Hunter, of The Star, contributed to this report.



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© 2010 The Star Grand Coulee, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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