On Nov. 16, 2011, a Nacogdoches County jury found Travis Austin Bailey not guilty of felony sexual assault after a two and a half day trial in the 145th District Court. The verdict was reached following less than an hour of deliberation.
The State’s evidence began with the complaining witness describing a violent assault, followed by a family member who testified in support of the complaining witness’ account. The State ended with the testimonies of law enforcement representatives and a nurse who treated the complaining witness.
Defense attorney John Boundy then presented witnesses and documents which challenged the complaining witness’ credibility and story. Boundy additionally pointed out a lack of physical evidence collected by both law enforcement and medical care providers to connect Bailey to the allegation.
Boundy offered an explanation as to why the complaining witness delayed reporting the alleged incident along with not producing relevant evidence, all of which hindered the criminal investigation. Boundy’s recount included the complaining witness was still seeing Bailey, and after been caught by her fiancé, she need to create a false story.
However, when law enforcement got involved, Boundy theorized the complaining witness delayed reporting the incident to keep any evidence from being available to prosecute Bailey. The evidence showed she still was having social contact with, contrary to earlier testimony, Boundy said.
“While respecting the province of jury deliberation, any one of these areas of inquiry, or any combination thereof, could have been a source of reasonable doubt,” Boundy said. “The trial was hotly contested and hard fought, and in the end, as it should be in our system of criminal justice, the final word came from the people; the jury.”
