A jury charged with deciding guilt or innocence in a case of alleged sexual abuse, spent this afternoon deliberating but has yet to reach a verdict.
The jury reconvenes at 9:30 a.m.
After a day and a half of testimony in the trial of Ronald Smith, the jury heard closing arguments late this morning from Public Defender Gary Horton and Assistant District Attorney Melissa Cianfrini.
Smith, a Level 3 sex offender who was out of prison just a few months before he allegedly sexually abused a 7-year-old girl, is charged with three counts of sexual abuse,1st. If convicted, he could be sentenced to as much as three consecutive seven-year sentences.
In order to convict Smith, Horton told the jury, each juror must find beyond a reasonable doubt that Smith intended to achieve sexual gratification when he allegedly touched the little girl's private parts.
Horton argued that there is no evidence that Smith intentionally touched the girl in a sexual manner.
According to Horton, a videotape of a police interrogation of Smith fails to demonstrate that Smith intentionally touched the girl in a sexual way.
"They ask the same question over and over again because they're not satisfied with the answer," Horton told the jury. "They even suggest answers. 'We know you touched this girl in this way,' they said. But what you have is Ronald Smith protesting vehemently that he ever touched that little girl, not in that way, not in a sexual way."
(For fuller coverage of the videotape evidence, read Geoff Redick's story on WBTA's website.)
Horton also told the jury that the young alleged victim changed her story on the witness stand, first saying that Smith had touched her bare skin when questioned by Cianfrini, denying it when questioned by Horton, and then saying again that Smith touched her in her private area and touched bare skin.
Smith is accused of using his finger to touch the girl's intimate area on three different occasions -- once on a visit to her mother's house when he was in the mother's bedroom with her and his 1-year-old child, once in the living room while they watched TV and once in her bedroom.
At one point in testimony, however, according to Horton, the girl even denied Smith ever came over to her house.
Horton was careful not to accuse the alleged victim of lying.
"I point all of this out, not to say this little 7-year-old is involved in some grand conspiracy to bring false accusations against my client," Horton said. "I am saying that, because of her age and level of understanding, she was asked many leading questions. And when she testified she agreed with Ms. Cianfrini, and when I asked the questions she agreed with me."
Horton said the girl showed the same propensity to agree with an adult authority figure when questioned at the Child Advocacy Center by a doctor.
There may be evidence that the girl was molested by another man when visiting his house in another county.
"I am saying it is quite possible that this little girl was molested by somebody else," Horton said.
Cianfrini, in her closing argument, said all of the evidence pointed toward Smith -- that he knowingly, purposefully and for sexual gratification touched the girl's vagina.
"Three times is not an accident," Cianfrini said.
A good portion of Cianfrini's argument involved pointing out Smith's inconsistent statements.
At one time, in a written statement, he denied ever going over to the girl's mother's house to visit his own child when there wasn't another adult present.
But in the video, he clearly admits being alone with the girl at times, but denies touching her in a sexual way.
"Maybe I touched her on accident, but it was when I was playing with her, when we were wrestling," Smith said. "If I did touch her – I never have – but if I did, it was on accident."
Later in the tape, Smith talks with investigators about wrestling with his sexual demons, saying he had conquered those demons, which is why he said he told the girl not to cling to him all the time.
Cianfrini said the girl's testimony was consistent and contained the kind of detail that makes her believable.
"Her recall was accurate," Cianfrini said. "She was able to testify accurately and in detail as to the place of the incidents, what rooms she was in. She was able to describe what she was doing, what Ron was doing and what her baby sister was doing. She was able to tell you what clothes she was wearing. She could tell you where the baby was located."
It was clear, Cianfrini said, that Horton's questions often confused her and once she understood the questions, she gave consistent answers.
