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KEARNEY — For the second time in three years, a jury deadlocked in the sexual assault trial of a former Ravenna police officer.
About 1:50 p.m. Friday, the jury of two women and 11 men returned to the Buffalo County District Courtroom to tell Judge Bill Wright they couldn’t reach a unanimous decision on any of the six charges against Larry Williams.
“We went over it numerous times. We’ve gone over it high and low, and we haven’t changed any opinions,” said the jury foreman.
Wright asked the jury to deliberate until 4:30 p.m. to see whether it could reach a unanimous verdict. The case was declared a mistrial at 4:40 p.m. after 12½ hours of deliberation.
Williams, 53, of Holdrege is accused of having a sexual relationship with a then-15-year-old Ravenna girl between February 2001 and February 2003 while he was employed as a sergeant with the Ravenna Police Department. He faces five charges of first-degree sexual assault, which include penetration, and a count of sexual assault of a child involving sexual contact.
Even though the jury couldn’t deliver a verdict, the charges haven’t been dismissed. Williams could be tried a third time.
Williams’ first trial ended in a hung jury in 2007 when he faced the same charges.
— World-Herald News Service
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