Thursday, August 27, 2009

Hodges trial goes into day three

The defense continued to ramp up its case today in the Foss Hodges felony child molestation trial being heard at the Morgan County courthouse.

Day three of the ongoing trial opened with the defendant himself again taking the stand for intense cross-examination from assistant district attorney Alison Burleson.

Hodges' attorneys then spent the remainder of the day maintaining a steady stream of character witnesses, from former business colleagues and childhood friends of the defendant to family members and social contacts from around Madison, who all spoke highly of his character and 'truthfulness and honesty'.

Stan DeJarnett, superintendent of schools for Morgan County, spoke in his favor, as did Hodges' father-in-law, former Madison mayor and prominent local business owner Bruce Gilbert.

Jurors also heard about several ski trips taken by Hodges and friends over the years, detailing several incidents that were teased by lead defense attorney Doug Peters in his opening statement on Tuesday.

Lee Gilbert, Hodges' brother-in-law, testified that he had effectively been carressed in his sleep by Hodges on one such ski trip. Another friend told the court that the same thing had happened to him on a separate ski trip to Salt Lake City. Both men maintained that Hodges had no recollection of either incident the next morning. Prosecuting attorneys, however, made the point that these incidents were not comparable in scope or seriousness to the alleged incident on trial, and each involved only passing touch.

Friends, family and teachers close to the alleged victim were also called in to discuss the girl's attitude after the event, and each assured attorneys that her demeanor and behavior didn't change in the months following the supposed incident.

The defense still has four witnesses in their arsenal, which likely still includes several sleep disorder specialists and other experts who will advance the defendant's position that he was asleep throughout the incident. Prosecutors are expected to continue attempts to poke holes in this theory, claiming that no sleep disorder was mentioned prior to the trial.

No comments:

Post a Comment