Hung jury leaves DA considering new trial against former school bus driver accused of sex crimes
NORWICH – The Chenango County District Attorney's Office is considering retrying a sex crime case against a former Sherburne-Earlville bus driver that ended in a mistrial last week.
First Assistant District Attorney Christine Rudy, the lead prosecutor, said the district attorney’s office is planning to retry the defendant, though a final decision has yet to be made.
Following a week-long trial in Chenango County Court, including two days of jury deliberations, the case against defendant Douglas C. Webb was declared a mistrial by Chenango County Court Judge Frank B. Revoir.
Webb, 64-years-old of Sherburne, was charged with first degree offering a false instrument for filing with the intent to defraud, a class E felony. He was also charged with a number of misdemeanors including second degree falsifying business records, three counts of forcible touching and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Webb was initially charged in February of 2022 by the New York State Police after students complained of him touching a number of students inappropriately.
Police investigators said Webb had inappropriately touched three students, then ages 14, 15 and 16, while serving as a bus driver for the S-E School District. Webb was fired and an order of protection was issued to keep him away from the students.
A few days later, police also charged Webb with concealing on hiring documents that he had previously been convicted of second degree sex abuse in Madison County decades earlier.
Rudy, who presented the case alongside Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Healy, said the jury informed the court they were unable to come to a decision Friday afternoon. She said the jury deliberated for most of Thursday and almost all day Friday, she said.
“In order to come to either verdict, whether guilty or not guilty, there has to be a unanimous jury decision. So when there’s not a unanimous decision, it’s called a hung jury, which is a mistrial,” Rudy said.
Despite the trial ending without a verdict, Rudy said she expects a new trial to begin in the future.
“The trial has to be docketed for future court proceedings, and then we will determine how we are going to proceed from there,” Rudy said. “At this point, we do intend on going forward with the case.”
Rudy said a new trial would mean “starting fresh,” meaning evidence would have to be resubmitted, witnesses would testify again and a new jury would hear the case.
Thomas D. Jackson Jr., Webb’s defense attorney, said he would likely represent Webb again if there were another trial. He did not comment further on the case.
On Monday, a man reached out to the Evening Sun seeking to share his experience on the jury. He asked his name not be published but confirmed his identity. He said he was a former school bus driver.
The juror said within the first few hours of deliberation, he knew the jury would likely not reach a verdict. He said from the start some jurors believed Webb was not guilty on all counts and other jurors were convinced he was guilty. He said the two sides could never really reconcile their main differences.
“After the first day [of deliberation], I could see that it was hopeless,” the juror said.
He said one of the main points of concern for the doubtful jurors was a lack of security camera video footage for all the crimes being considered. Prosecutors submitted video evidence in the case, but the juror said it did not show everything.
He also said the deliberation room became tense and emotional for some due to the long hours spent trying to reach a verdict and the sex crime nature of the case.
“[One juror] was physically ill over this thing. I mean, she was vomiting. She was probably on the borderline of needing some medical attention,” he said. “We had another juror who spent probably a good share of each day crying.”
Though he acknowledged serving on the jury was part of his civic duty, he said it wasn't easy and took a toll.
He said he and others were “disturbed” by the experience. “I would compare it to getting divorced, only it didn’t last as long, and it was way worse than divorce,” he said.
First Assistant District Attorney Christine Rudy, the lead prosecutor, said the district attorney’s office is planning to retry the defendant, though a final decision has yet to be made.
Following a week-long trial in Chenango County Court, including two days of jury deliberations, the case against defendant Douglas C. Webb was declared a mistrial by Chenango County Court Judge Frank B. Revoir.
Webb, 64-years-old of Sherburne, was charged with first degree offering a false instrument for filing with the intent to defraud, a class E felony. He was also charged with a number of misdemeanors including second degree falsifying business records, three counts of forcible touching and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Webb was initially charged in February of 2022 by the New York State Police after students complained of him touching a number of students inappropriately.
Police investigators said Webb had inappropriately touched three students, then ages 14, 15 and 16, while serving as a bus driver for the S-E School District. Webb was fired and an order of protection was issued to keep him away from the students.
A few days later, police also charged Webb with concealing on hiring documents that he had previously been convicted of second degree sex abuse in Madison County decades earlier.
Rudy, who presented the case alongside Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Healy, said the jury informed the court they were unable to come to a decision Friday afternoon. She said the jury deliberated for most of Thursday and almost all day Friday, she said.
“In order to come to either verdict, whether guilty or not guilty, there has to be a unanimous jury decision. So when there’s not a unanimous decision, it’s called a hung jury, which is a mistrial,” Rudy said.
Despite the trial ending without a verdict, Rudy said she expects a new trial to begin in the future.
“The trial has to be docketed for future court proceedings, and then we will determine how we are going to proceed from there,” Rudy said. “At this point, we do intend on going forward with the case.”
Rudy said a new trial would mean “starting fresh,” meaning evidence would have to be resubmitted, witnesses would testify again and a new jury would hear the case.
Thomas D. Jackson Jr., Webb’s defense attorney, said he would likely represent Webb again if there were another trial. He did not comment further on the case.
On Monday, a man reached out to the Evening Sun seeking to share his experience on the jury. He asked his name not be published but confirmed his identity. He said he was a former school bus driver.
The juror said within the first few hours of deliberation, he knew the jury would likely not reach a verdict. He said from the start some jurors believed Webb was not guilty on all counts and other jurors were convinced he was guilty. He said the two sides could never really reconcile their main differences.
“After the first day [of deliberation], I could see that it was hopeless,” the juror said.
He said one of the main points of concern for the doubtful jurors was a lack of security camera video footage for all the crimes being considered. Prosecutors submitted video evidence in the case, but the juror said it did not show everything.
He also said the deliberation room became tense and emotional for some due to the long hours spent trying to reach a verdict and the sex crime nature of the case.
“[One juror] was physically ill over this thing. I mean, she was vomiting. She was probably on the borderline of needing some medical attention,” he said. “We had another juror who spent probably a good share of each day crying.”
Though he acknowledged serving on the jury was part of his civic duty, he said it wasn't easy and took a toll.
He said he and others were “disturbed” by the experience. “I would compare it to getting divorced, only it didn’t last as long, and it was way worse than divorce,” he said.
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