NORWICH – Following a two-day sex crime trial at the Chenango County Courthouse, a jury returned after two hours of deliberations and declared the defendant not guilty.
Clarence A. Brown Jr., 35, of Pitcher, was found not guilty of all three charges against him: first degree sexual abuse, a D class felony, third degree sexual abuse, a sex crime misdemeanor, and endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.
Assistant Public Defender Diane M. DiStefano said the case lacked any physical evidence and was an instance of “his word against hers.”
Brown was arrested April 5, 2010 by the Chenango County Sheriff’s Office after he allegedly molested a sleeping 20-year-old woman. According to police, Brown climbed into bed with the woman and her four-year-old child at around 4 a.m. a few days earlier, on April 1, and put his hand inside the alleged victim’s pants.
During the trial, Brown took the stand in his own defense and denied even being in the room at the time of the alleged incident. He claimed to have gone into the room at just before 7 a.m. after a child being dropped off for baby-sitting disturbed him sleeping on the couch. He said he went into the woman’s bedroom and laid on top of the blanket with a four-year-old child between him and the alleged victim. Unable to get back to sleep, he said he got back up a few minutes later and left.
The purported victim in the case was called twice to the stand during the trial and Chenango County Court Judge W. Howard Sullivan denied a request by DiStefano to recall her for a third time right before closing arguments.
“I will not recall the victim. I think it unduly highlights her testimony, and it’s something that should have been done in the regular cross-examination,” he said.
First Assistant District Attorney Stephen M. Dunshee called four witnesses to the stand: the victim, her grandmother, an ex-boyfriend and Chenango County Sheriff’s Detective Kevin Powell. The defense called two witnesses: Clarence Brown and his mother, Cindy.
During her closing arguments, DiStefano focused on inconsistencies in the prosecution’s witness testimony. She said the accuser, her mother and her former boyfriend all gave different stories on how the incident was later reported to relatives. She also noted that the woman failed to report the incident to anyone until after she got back from school at around 2 p.m. later that day.
Though the accuser denied it on the stand, DiStefano again reinforced the defense’s theory that the woman went back to sleep after the incident until about 8:30 p.m. and indicated the allegations were fabricated. On cross-examination by DiStefano, the woman said she woke up during the 4 a.m. incident and then laid in bed awake. “I did not go back to sleep, not at all,” she testified, visibly upset.
“Tears are not an indication of credibility,” DiStefano told jurors in her closing arguments.
Distefano told the jury motive for the false allegations was in the testimony of Cindy Brown. She testified there was personal friction between her son and the alleged victim involving the woman’s late mother.
Dunshee highlighted the testimony of Detective Powell during his arguments. Powell testified he picked up Brown on April 5 with intentions to interview him at the Otselic Valley substation. He testified that Brown signed a Miranda warning and had asked for an attorney before questioning could begin. By New York State law, police are prohibited from talking to defendants after they invoke their right to counsel, but Powell testified that Brown made “spontaneous” remarks.
While gathering paper work, Powell testified, “(Brown) said he was taking a lot of prescription pills, didn’t recall what happened and woke up in the victim’s bed.”
Apart from the officer’s testimony, Powell admitted in court there was no record of the remarks.
“There is no interest for the detective to make this up; he never met Mr. Brown before in his life,” Dunshee told the jury.
DiStefano said the DA’s Office had offered previous plea arrangements to allow her client to plead guilty to third degree sexual abuse, a misdemeanor. He would have had to register as a sex offender for at least 20 years and spend 40 days in jail.
Dunshee said Brown faced up to seven years in prison and would have to register as a sex offender if convicted of the top count against him.
DiStefano has been a member of the public defender’s office for about five years and the trial was her first criminal jury trial.
During her closing arguments, DiStefano told the jury that yesterday was her 40th birthday and following the verdict she commented, “the greatest birthday present is knowing the system works.”