The trial is over for Sterling Alexander, and the jury has found him not guilty on five counts, guilty on two lesser charges, and two were declared a mistrial.
(SALEM, Ore.) - The trial of a Salem Police officer ended today with Sterling Alexander emerging from the Marion County court room of Judge Albin Norblad more closely a free man than he has been in months.
The jury deliberated over 24 hours in this complicated case. At one point, it seemed they had reached an impasse.
At 3:56 PM Wednesday, Judge Norblad announced that there was a verdict on all counts except two, which the jury could not reach a consensus on. Those two counts were deemed a mistrial.
Sterling Alexander was found Not Guilty on all charges, with the exception of two lesser charges: Guilty of Official Misconduct (12-0); and Sex Abuse 2 (11-1).
Alexander will be sentenced on July 9th at 8:00 AM. Neither of the two counts fall under Measure 11, therefore Kevin Lafky, attorney for Alexander said, "It's a good verdict from an overall perspective. One accuser was a complete 'not guilty', and the fact that the jury deliberated for over 24 hours showed they did their homework, and we're very happy with the verdict."
"The sentencing is up to Judge Norblad, but our position is to receive probation, he shouldn't be required to serve any jail time," Lafky said. He noted that it's up to the DA if Alexander is retried on the two charges that were mistrialed. "I think we all hope they've had enough of all this, and are ready to move on."
During the trial, Prosecuting Attorney Jodie Bureta said Sterling Alexander was guilty of a number of crimes that center around the sex abuse allegations of three women, one of whom was a minor at the time of the alleged offense.
Defense Attorney Kevin Lafkey says his client was the victim of a bungled investigation and he says the victims' stories are basically riddled with holes.
Advocates for Sterling Alexander said they have always had faith that he would emerge from the case as a free man.
"We would like to see this as the beginning of a healing process for Salem," a family spokesman said. "We had hoped for a clean sweep of all charges, and we didn't get it. But the jury worked very hard at coming to their decision and the family appreciates it."
The African-American veteran acknowledges that he made mistakes, but that he never committed the crimes he was charged with, and he says he was personally a victim of racist activity at Salem Police that he alleges was never fully investigated.
The thirteen member jury of nine women, counting the alternate, and five men, contained one person who appears to be of minority status. Sterling Alexander was one of Salem's few African-American employees.
Former Salem Officer Found Not Guilty on Rape ChargesSalem-News.com