CLEARFIELD – A jury deliberated for approximately 25 minutes this afternoon before returning a not guilty verdict on all charges against Joseph A. Brown, 60, of DuBois, who was accused of raping a 71-year-old woman, after a two-day trial before Clearfield County President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman.
Brown was found not guilty of rape, criminal attempt/involuntary deviate sexual intercourse by forcible compulsion, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault. Brown had been incarcerated since being accused of the alleged rape on Dec. 11, 2012 and is being released today from the Clearfield County Jail.
“We are pleased with the verdict,” said defense attorney Michael Marshall. “From the very beginning, Joe has always adamantly maintained to me that he didn’t do it. That it was consensual.”
Marshall said the defense’s “biggest hurdle” during the course of the trial was convincing jurors that because the woman had sustained serious injuries to her private area, didn’t mean that Brown had raped her. He felt outside the commonwealth’s medical evidence, everything else swayed into the defense’s favor.
Clearfield County District Attorney William A. Shaw Jr. said he was disappointed with the outcome. He said for whatever reason, jurors apparently were not comfortable with convicting Brown. Shaw said if he prosecuted this case again, he wouldn’t change anything, as he thought this trial “went off without a hitch.”
“I thought we had more than sufficient evidence . . . and the pictures were very compelling,” he said. “I thought there would be at least one juror who would have wanted to talk about it more, but I respect the jury’s decision.”
Shaw said he was very proud of the woman who showed a lot of courage throughout the entire court process. He said she was also disappointed in the verdict but felt vindicated for telling her story.
“From day one, her story never changed. She knows what happened,” he said.
Shaw said if Brown had been convicted of rape, he would have faced a mandatory minimum of five years of incarceration for that charge alone.
Continue to check GantDaily.com for complete coverage from the second day of trial.