Bowie County Jury Finds Man Not Guilty of Sexual Assault

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January 23, 2015 | A Bowie County jury found Antonio Cochran not guilty of sexual assault after approximately eight hours of deliberation.

“The independent witnesses and facts of the case simply did not convince the jury that the alleged victim was telling the truth,” stated Chief Public Defender Rick Shumaker.

The probable cause affidavit details the following: Cochran initially agreed to take his girlfriend’s daughter to an apartment complex. Cochran, instead, pulled over on the side of the road near some woods, stated the probable cause affidavit. Cochran then alleged threatened the alleged victim to force her to have nonconsentual sexual acts in his car and in the woods, stated the probable cause affidavit. A lady walked up and said she called the police. Cochran started to drive off and then the police stopped his vehicle. The police searched his car and allegedly found narcotics, stated the probable cause affidavit.

However, the defense argued that outcry only occurred after the police found controlled substances in the car. “When the car was was stopped, there was a suspicion that the passengers were in possession of a controlled substance. She waited around approximately ten minutes while the police had them detained before she ever made any mention of sexual assault. She only made that at the time the police were searching the car for controlled substance,” stated Shumaker.

Shumaker further stated that the alleged victim had several other opportunities to make an outcry, but didn’t.

“She encountered some other citizens down the street from where the police stopped her. She never made an outcry to them. She had numerous opportunities with the police to make an outcry to them. She never did anything until they were searching the car and found controlled substances,” stated Shumaker.

“He still has a possession charge. He has a $3000 bond. I believe the family will make that tonight or in the morning. There are some issues with the possession charge if the state tries to pursue it then we have got some legal issues with that charge,” stated Shumaker.

“It restores my faith in the jury system because you try a case that you don’t agree with the verdict. You have a serious charge like this, the jury actually listened to the evidence and return the right verdict,” stated Shumaker.

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