WATERTOWN — A judge deliberated for less than 30 minutes Friday before he issued a not guilty verdict for a man accused of raping a girl younger than 8 years old. Sheldon B. Dukes, who was charged with felony first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child and predatory sexual assault against a child, walked out of the courtroom in tears Friday afternoon. Judge Kim H. Martusewicz, who presided over Mr. Dukes’s two-day bench trial in Jefferson County Court, ruled the prosecution did not meet its burden of proof. The not guilty verdict this week comes after a jury couldn’t decide if Dukes was innocent or guilty at a trial in March. Read Full Article
By CDH Law
Watertown man found not guilty of rape; counsels react
WATERTOWN — A judge deliberated for less than 30 minutes Friday before he issued a not guilty verdict for a man accused of raping a girl younger than 8 years old. Sheldon B. Dukes, who was charged with felony first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child and predatory sexual assault against a child, walked out of the courtroom in tears Friday afternoon. Judge Kim H. Martusewicz, who presided over Mr. Dukes’s two-day bench trial in Jefferson County Court, ruled the prosecution did not meet its burden of proof. The not guilty verdict this week comes after a jury couldn’t decide if Dukes was innocent or guilty at a trial in March. Read Full Article