Rape case ends in mistrial

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Tribune Staff Report

After nearly five hours of deliberation, a mistrial was declared in a local child molestation trial.

Derek Holt, who was accused of raping a 3-year-old girl in 2006, had to wait through five long days of a jury trial to learn if he would be convicted or not. The jury returned to the courtroom about 10 p.m. Monday night to deliver their verdict of a mistrial on the count of rape, however, they found Holt guilty on the second count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child.

During their closing statements, both Bourbon County Attorney Terri Johnson and Holt's attorney Mark Fern pled their cases to the jury. Johnson said she talked to the jury explaining that they had been presented with the evidence and that it was up to them to make the decision on what to believe.

"(The jury) can believe all of it, or (the jury) can believe none of it," Johnson said.

Fern spoke to the jury about how he believes the state didn't follow up on any other possibilities, and how the story of what happened kept changing.

"This was an investigation that ran away ... nobody looked for an alternative hypothesis," Fern said. "The story keeps changing ... isn't this reasonable doubt."

Johnson responded, "Why would a 3-year-old make this up?"

Because of the mistrial ruling, the state has the option to retry the case, according to Johnson. She added she has not yet made that decision.

Following the verdict delivery, Holt was taken into custody and will be sentenced at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 30. According to Bourbon County Court records, an amended complaint was filed Jan. 25, 2007, to update the maximum sentence to a life sentence in accordance with 2006 Session Laws Chapter 212, Section 11, also known as Jessica's Law.

Comments

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I can not believe how crooked boubon county is and the witch hunt the prosecutor has been on in regaurds to this case!!!! What happen to "TRUTH" and "JUSTICE"?? There is an innocent man in jail and his life is over...The truth will come out but will it be to late for Mr.Holt?? How can you all live and sleep like a baby at night when all the reasonable doubt in the trial was so intense and so numerus through out the entire trial. I am flabergasted how your county seat justice system works!!!!! GOD help your town!!!!!

JUSTICE IS DEAD

-- Posted by bliss on Thu, Sep 24, 2009, at 8:09 AM

Were you there?

-- Posted by yarg23 on Thu, Sep 24, 2009, at 2:59 PM

YES I WAS

-- Posted by bliss on Thu, Sep 24, 2009, at 3:14 PM

WERE YOU??

-- Posted by bliss on Thu, Sep 24, 2009, at 3:15 PM

Must be some of his relation...

-- Posted by Fort Scott Resident on Thu, Sep 24, 2009, at 9:26 PM

I see you make assumption like boubon county.....

-- Posted by bliss on Fri, Sep 25, 2009, at 6:08 AM

12 of his peers believed he was guilty, they must have not gotten your memo Bliss...

You should have been there for him before he destroyed a child's life and not after.

-- Posted by FtScottCitizen on Fri, Sep 25, 2009, at 12:28 PM

I don't see a lynching mob as 12 of his "peers" put the trial in another county seat and then the trial would have not been tainted.....

And who are you to throw stones at glass houses??

-- Posted by bliss on Fri, Sep 25, 2009, at 3:19 PM

LOL now come on people, the last comment i read was highly entertaining, thank you no shoes no service, i can tell your from fort scott. haha, its hard to keep from laughing as you people judge someone you dont know. you sit there and talk about innocence lost but yet you sit there on your pedestal of judgement and want to see a man get raped and possibly killed...?? yeah you are a high standing citizen, looking out for this supposed victim when you obviously dont have the slightest clue about anything having to do with that particular trial or case. lol moron, i love it, leave it to a stupid human to prove how ignorant the human race is when they can sit back in judgement of another not knowing the first thing about suffering, someday it may be you or your child who suffers at the hand of true ignorance and evil, whats that old saying, what comes around goes around.....think about it before you throw stones, God will prevail in the end, He always does.

-- Posted by dazed_confused on Fri, Sep 25, 2009, at 10:42 PM

Wow!!!! ignorance runs rampant in bourbon county...

-- Posted by bliss on Sat, Sep 26, 2009, at 7:22 PM

I am going to do my best to stay professional and not stoop to the insane ignorant levels of certain comments on this story. I would say that dazed really got to you no shoes. Why is that?? Do you harbor secrets of your own that you must stones at someone else to free your mind of inside guilt?? There is a battle waging here between who's better than this person. From the sounds of the last couple comments made by no shoes, I would be safe to say there's a personal level of spite being spat. No shoes, how do you know dazed hasn't had personal experience with this current storyline?? How do you know one of his/her children weren't touched wrongly by someone?? You seem to act as if you know all about this case and others like it so why don't you tell us all since you are such an expert on judging people how to protect our children?? Do we burn them all at the stake like the Salem witch trial, do we organize a hanging like Britain, or do we try to seek justice for all humankind?? I believe in the justice system and I believe it works, but with the words of someone who utters nonsense like, "when your getting raped by a big horny bird.." Now seriously, what kind of person do you think is going to take you seriously with words like that?? Jackhole? Is that even a word... Do you even know what indecent liberties with a child are or are you just following the flock? What in the world is nambla?? Did you make that up all by yourself or did you have help?? If you felt that was clever, I am sorry that was highly comical to say the least but again I am straying from professionalism. I would say if I were to play my cards right, dazed, whoever you may be, is laughing their head off. Being defensive is a sure sign of guilt of something. There is alot you need to know no shoes before you begin to regurgitate words you don't fully comprehend. There is alot to be learned from something like this and I feel sorry, not for the accused but for people like no shoes. It's people like that that causes mass hysteria over things they don't fully understand or can even comprehend. If you are having issues no shoes, there's available counseling at your local SRS office. Just a word of professional advice, don't assume to know what any parent would do in this situation, you are OBVIOUSLY not qualified to make any judgement on a child and what would be best for a parent to do. And as my final note for no shoes, I noticed you blasted dazed for their refernce to God. "Don't preach your God to me.." I thought God was everybody's God, do you worship a different God?? Or is your God just convenient for you when you feel you need to use His name and word. Blasphemy is the mother of all mistakes.........God help you all

-- Posted by truth_2009 on Sun, Sep 27, 2009, at 1:59 AM

You go Bliss,Truth and Dazed So glad to see there are still some intelligent and non-judgemental souls on this earth...If more people like you would have been his peers sitting in judgement then the truth would have prevailed. We dont need people like noshoes on jury's. It has been a witch hunt from the start!!!!! I think noshoes should take Truth's advise and get some intense help, or a mental hospital. Life is not just black and white

unprejudiced

-- Posted by dayahachild03 on Sun, Sep 27, 2009, at 12:06 PM

IF there is so much to prove this guy was innocent, why wasn't it brought out in trial. I wasn't in the courtroom...maybe their evidence was presented. If that's the case, it evidently wasn't enough to convince a jury. Bourbon County juries have been pretty conservative in the past. It looks like they believed that something happened & didn't want to just let him back out on the streets.

It appears his friends/family are still trying to defend a man who has been convicted by 12 of his peers (which are made up of folks selected and agreed to by his own defense attorney). There is an appeal process provided by the court system. If Mr. Holt is as innocent as claimed, maybe he needs to be looking into that as his next option.

Instead of trying to defend him here, you should be out helping to get the evidence to defend the rape charge, if Ms. Johnson decides to re-file that. Mr. Fern said the state didn't follow up on any other possibilities. But, if you have the guy that you feel did it, why would you need to? Defending him is the job of the defense attorney, not the prosecutor.

-- Posted by Fort Scott Resident on Sun, Sep 27, 2009, at 4:48 PM

It appears resident that you don't have much knowledge in the classic sex abuse recipe for conviction. Being accused is all it takes for a person to be convicted and that is all. The problem is that people believe that just because 12 of your peers say something happened and they come back with a guilty verdict, that it must be true. I am sorry to inform you all that is just not the truth. When you are accused of this sort of crime, you no longer have constitutional right. The "child saving industry" has created this hysteria of protecting our children from a child molestor thats lurking beyond every shadow. It doesn't matter who it is, it could be your best friend, your brother, your father or the nice little old man down the street. I believe that this particular case has brought the close minded, the overprotective hysteria freaks that's so common in todays society. I would say from experience that Mr. Holt's family is vehemently fighting the whole case, not just the possiblity of Ms. Johnson refiling the rape charge. I don't think you, resident need to be concerned about that one. I think humankind has lost all sense when it comes to a case like this. Instead of writing about what you people think, use the world wide web. You would be amazed at how many people are wrongfully convicted of sex abuse. The statistics are staggering. There is a problem with our society and this is just another case to prove it. I am going to close this statement with a final response to residents comment, "if you have the guy you feel did it, why would you need to...(check out other possiblities)." Resident I hate to burst your perfect little bubble you live in, but unfortunately, this case like so many before it, the child protective services and the police are not interested in conducting a fair investigation and for sure don't care if the man gets a fair trial, all they care about it getting someone behind bars so they will make the community feel safe when the real perpetrator could be living next door to you. How does that make you sleep at night resident, you will never know the truth if you continue to look out your rose colored glasses until the real child molestor touches your child and the man sitting in jail you all think is soooo evil and disgusting, well maybe he wasn't your guy after all..........words to think about as you fall asleep at night.

-- Posted by truth_2009 on Sun, Sep 27, 2009, at 9:28 PM

If there was enough evidence to convict him then yes, I'm satisfied. Evidently 12 people looked at the case and felt the proof was there. I was not one of those jurors and will have to accept their decision, as will Mr. Holt. If he's innocent, perhaps it can be reversed in an appeal.

-- Posted by Fort Scott Resident on Sun, Sep 27, 2009, at 9:42 PM

I was sexually molested as a child. I told my parents what had happened and they believed me as parents should. We went to trial and they found him not guilty. It was devastating to know what had happen to me and to know he would be free to repeat his actions with other children. There are just as many sex offenders that are found not guility as those who are found guility. Look at all sides of this issue

-- Posted by sadness on Mon, Sep 28, 2009, at 2:54 PM

Sadness, I truly sympathize with your situation. I happen to have first hand experience with sexual abuse myself, I will not say in what manner, but just know it has touched my family as well. But just because I have had that horrible experience in my family's life doesn't mean I will be close minded enough to believe that all accused are guilty. Trust me, I have dedicated my life to being open minded to all affected by this horrible crime. All sides are always touched by me when I look at one of these cases. There are more innocent people in prison for this crime than the guilty, that in my opinion deserve to sit in prison for a very long time. I think the system is skewed severely when it comes to sex abuse cases and more often not there's no evidence in a case like this, that's for you Resident. Heresay makes up over 98% of these cases. In a normal everyday criminal case, heresay is thrown out as inadmissable. Not in a sex abuse case. The accused no longer have constitutional rights, their ability to prove innocence goes out the door. There is a high price to pay when an accused goes to prison and come to find out, he's not guilty. The mass hysteria created by the child protection industry needs to focus on truth and evidence, not trying to get a name for themselves or pursuing an accused just because you have to do it for the community, do the right thing, make sure you have the right guy so no other children get harmed, make sure you don't ruin someone's life just because you want and need a conviction. Get the right guy the first time and no one suffers. Just what if Mr. Holt is innocent?? Does he have kids, does he have a wife? What are his wife and kids going to do without him if he's sentenced to life due to Jessica's Law and he's innocent? What does he do with this life if and when he's set free? You live with that stigma forever. It follows you and lurks behind every shadow in your mind. What would you do if you were accused and you had no control over the people that want to execute you? How would you feel if you were labled a child molestor in your community?? What would you tell your kids if you were sentenced for a crime you didn't commit?? Most people never place themselves in the shoes of a wrongfully convicted person, not saying Mr. Holt was, but what if?? Could each of you who have persecuted Mr. Holt live with yourselves if you found out later he WAS innocent?? That maybe someone was lieing or someone was misinformed and didn't follow through properly?? How will your conscious let you function day to day knowing you helped persecute an innocent man?? The truth always sets you free, but at what cost.....?

-- Posted by truth_2009 on Tue, Sep 29, 2009, at 4:08 PM

It almost sickens me to read some of the comments left on this forum. You are arguing amongst yourselves, each trying to prove your own point. What I don't understand, how is this helping prove any kind of justice. Whether that be the "injustice" given Mr. Holt, or the "justice" some feel has been served. If you feel so strongly about the subject, do something more than putting your opinion on the internet. Trying to make other feel guilty be asking them "what if" is rediculous. No person can go through life wondering "what if I had done it differently" or "what if I'm not right?" That's just not fair. If Mr. Holt is innocent, the jury is not to blame for his lost time. If he is guilty, they are not to blame if he harms another child. Also, I saw it mentioned that "But, if you have the guy that you feel did it, why would you need to? Defending him is the job of the defense attorney, not the prosecutor." I do not agree with this at all!!!!! It's "innocent until proven guilty." Not the other way around. If a proper investigation was not done, then maybe someone should really take a look into the local justice system.

-- Posted by mario03 on Thu, Oct 1, 2009, at 11:58 AM

All you readers need to go to this site : http://truthinjustice.org/false-allegati...

It will hopefully open some peoples eyes.

-- Posted by forward on Wed, Oct 7, 2009, at 5:57 PM

http://truthinjustice.org/false-allegati...

-- Posted by forward on Wed, Oct 7, 2009, at 5:59 PM

http://truthinjustice.org/false-

allegations.htm

-- Posted by forward on Wed, Oct 7, 2009, at 6:01 PM

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