Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Jury hung in rape trial

A hung jury will require a second trial to determine the guilt or innocence of a 36-year-old man charged with deviant sexual activity with a person under the age of 14.

The trial of Ed R. Hicks, of Nevada County, was held Monday, Oct. 11 through Wednesday, Oct. 13, with the jury returning an 8-4 verdict to convict. However, because of the split, the case must be retried. The trial was heard by Circuit Judge Duncan Culpepper, who declared the mistrial when the jury couldn't reach a unanimous decision.

According to court records, the victim was 10 years old when the incident occurred in 2002. The victim allegedly told a friend she had been molested, with the word spreading until someone called the child abuse hotline and reported it, bringing the legal system into the situation.

It took all morning and part of the afternoon to select the eight woman, four man jury. Once the trial got underway, the first witness was kept on the stand until 6 p.m. Monday, and returned to the stand at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Closing arguments were presented by both sides shortly after 1 p.m. Wednesday, with the jury deliberating less than four hours before returning with its split decision.

According to Joe Graham, deputy prosecuting attorney, the jury wasn't polled to see who voted for guilt or innocence, and no reason was given for the decision.

This means, he said, a new jury pool will have to be impaneled before the trial can be held again. At this time, according to Graham, a pretrial hearing is scheduled for January 10, 2005, with the trial set for Jan. 31.