Jury takes five minutes to acquit defendant
Published 12:20 pm Friday, June 22, 2018
Editor’s note: This story contains language that some readers may find offensive.
CHATSWORTH, Ga. — A man accused of aggravated sodomy and sexual battery in Murray County was acquitted by a jury after five minutes of deliberation, according to the public defender’s office.
Kenneth Charles Adams was accused of performing oral sex on a man against the man’s will. Public Defender Natalie Glaser said the encounter between the men was consensual.
“Facing life in prison, he (Adams) was fearful of trial, but is grateful that the citizens of Murray County could find the truth so quickly where the district attorney’s office could not,” Glaser said in a statement. “He is relieved and hoping to rebuild his work and family life after months in jail.”
Adams was arrested by the Chatsworth Police Department in February and charged with sodomy, public indecency and sexual battery.
According to Glaser’s statement, a man claimed he allowed Adams to perform oral sex on him because he “was afraid that Adams might be a cop, judge or someone of authority.” Glaser said Adams testified and said the accuser attempted to obtain payment for the sexual act and when Adams didn’t pay, the accuser went to police.
Adams had been held without bond since his arrest. In April of 2016, Adams pleaded guilty to public indecency and loitering/prowling charges after he was arrested in January by the Dalton Police Department, according to the Whitfield County Superior Court clerk’s office.
Assistant District Attorney Ben Kenemer prosecuted the Murray case.
“We appreciate the jury’s service and consideration in the case and respect their verdict,” District Attorney Bert Poston said in a statement. “Ben Kenemer did an excellent job presenting a difficult and challenging case. There were known issues going in, but we felt that the victim was telling the truth and in spite of the challenges the case needed to go before a jury for their decision. The public defender’s office did a great job representing their client. The jury decided the case. That’s how the system works.”
