PARIS — A judge declared a mistrial Wednesday in Oxford County Superior Court after a jury said it couldn’t come to a unanimous decision on 12 counts of gross sexual assault against a Poland man.
The state alleged that Jeffrey A. Hedrick, 52, of Poland, had sexual relations with a woman whose mental disability made her incapable of consenting to sex.
His defense attorney, Sarah Glynn, said the woman was an adult and able to make her own decisions.
“She’s an adult woman,” Glynn said after the mistrial was declared. She said she was happy about the outcome, calling it “a difficult case.”
Assistant District Attorney Joseph O’Connor said he didn’t know whether he would retry the case.
Hedrick faced 12 counts of Class B sexual assault. O’Connor said he believed Hedrick engaged in sexual acts with the woman far more than 12 times, but that her memory wasn’t reliable. He said the number of counts and the associated dates were chosen arbitrarily.
Glynn never denied that Hedrick engaged in sex acts with the woman, but said that what he did wasn’t illegal. The statute reads that an encounter is sexual assault if “the other person suffers from mental disability that is reasonably apparent or known to the actor, and which in fact renders the other person substantially incapable of appraising the nature of the contact involved or of understanding that the person has the right to deny or withdraw consent.”
In her closing arguments Wednesday morning, Glynn said that didn’t describe the situation. She pointed out that the woman had worked, taking care of horses and performing other work in the last household where she lived. “She deserves to be treated like the adult she is,” Glynn said.
“Your verdict may not be a popular one,” Glynn told jurors before they deliberated. “You may not like Mr. Hedrick. You probably don’t.”
O’Connor pointed out what psychologist Thomas Collins said about the woman — that she had an IQ of 57, the cognitive skills of a 7- to 8-year-old and a history of sexual abuse by her biological father when she was young. “All of which was known to the defendant,” O’Connor said.
He said the law was designed for people such as the woman, who he said lacked a substantial understanding of sexual acts and the fact that she could refuse them.
Hedrick did not testify at his trial, but his ex-wife recounted his admission to her that he had engaged in sexual acts with the woman many times in several places, including a barn and a garage.
The case went to the jury at about 11 a.m. After about two hours of deliberation and a lunch break, the jury requested to be read the woman’s testimony a second time. More than an hour later, the foreman said they couldn’t come to a decision.
Justice Robert Clifford asked if there was anyone in the jury who thought they might come to a verdict. All 12 shook their heads. Clifford said that if a single juror thought a verdict was possible, he would send them back to deliberate further.
Jurors went home at around 3:30 p.m.
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