KBN Managing Partner Brad Koffel recently secured Not Guilty verdicts on
all counts for a client charged with having consensual sex with a 15-year-old girl.
As reported by
The Lima News, the verdicts concluded a week-long trial Allen County Common Pleas Court
in which Koffel’s client, a 23-year-old former University of Northwestern
Ohio student, had been facing three felony counts of unlawful sexual conduct
with a minor. Prosecutors claimed that the young man had sexual intercourse
with the girl on three separate occasions in December 2020. The Defendant
denied ever having intercourse with the girl, who he said had represented
herself as being 18 when they first met on the social medial platform Snapchat.
In closing statements, Koffel told the jury they had no choice but to find
the Defendant not guilty given the state’s lack of physical evidence
and the alleged victim’s often contradictory testimony. He noted:
“If you think he didn’t do it, that’s a not guilty vote.
If you think ‘I don’t know,’ that’s a not guilty
vote. If you think ‘maybe he did it,’ it’s a not guilty.
If you think he probably, did it or even if it’s highly probable
that he did do it, he is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable
doubt.”
The tipping point occurred on Tuesday after the prosecution presented testimony
from the alleged victim about the alleged encounters, including an incident
of alleged oral sex, between her and the Defendant. The indictment alleged
only that the Defendant and girl had vaginal sex.
The revelation prompted Koffel to request a mistrial on the basis that
the 11th-hour disclosure “criminally altered this case,” and
to pursue a line a cross-examination in which the alleged victim admitted
that portions of her testimony were contradictory to what she previously
told investigators and that she made intentionally misleading statements
to protect the Defendant “because I felt like I loved the guy.”
Read more about the case
here.
Brad Koffel is Managing Partner at KBN and an award-winning criminal defense attorney
who has defended clients in courts across Ohio for nearly three decades.
Mr. Koffel concentrates much of his practice on felonies and serious crimes,
including alleged sex crimes and sexual misconduct allegations under Title IX.
Call or text 614-884-1100 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
