KOSCIUSKO — The jury was left with a hard decision as they were released for jury deliberation during the Terry Shaw child molestation trial. Both Deputy Prosecutor Brad Voelz and Defense Attorney John Barrett presented strong closing arguments to the court this afternoon, Feb. 7.

Voelz began his argument by reminding the court of the raw emotions they saw from the victim and her family. “[The victim] told you, she is 12 years old. She came into this courtroom, she was sworn in by the judge, she told you what Terry Shaw did to her,” said Voelz. “In this case, there can be no doubt that [the victim’s] testimony standing alone can firmly convince you of Terry Shaw’s guilt.”

Barrett used his closing argument to remind the jury about the lack of evidence and that in order to declare Shaw guilty, they would have to be firmly convinced of the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

“I believe that the evidence shows it was unclear, you need to something that you can hang your hat on,” said Barrett. He further said the case had the jurors “left wanting, left with unanswered questions.”

The state was given one more opportunity to address the court and Voelz summarized the events that corroborated the victim’s testimony. Voelz stated that the victim told five different people, on four different occasions the same story. That the alleged threats, both to the victim and the victim’s mother, indicated the admittance of guilt.

Voelz did not ignore the inconsistency between the victim’s testimony and Nanna’s testimony regarding who initiated the confession.

“If that’s all that a 12-year-old girl, in this environment, after all those interviews, after all this time, if that’s all she got wrong, then bravo, bravo [victim], you nailed it,” said Voelz.

They jury was then released to deliberate the case at 2:15 p.m.

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