Family members said there would be no comments from them, but two of Parker’s friends said they can’t figure out how the case ever came to court.
“I’m not happy with the prosecution at all. I think it was malicious,” said Stan Heekin. “As a father, and a grandfather and as a man I’m scared that it went this far.”
Oda gave a lengthy explanation of his reason for the not guilty verdict. He said he does not think the child was lying in her deposition testimony, but said there were some inconsistencies in the case.
“There is strong evidence to me that while (the child’s) statements are truthful they are not reliable,” he said. “Certainly not to the degree necessary for proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Prosecutor David Fornshell said he was satisfied with the case they tried.
“These kinds of cases are always difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, because you’re typically talking about the word of a child versus the word of an adult,” he said. “As a result they are some of the most difficult to prosecute.”
Assistant Prosecutor Teresa Hiett had tears in her eyes as she turned to the mother of the little girl. The mother did not want to comment. During closing arguments Hiett had argued that the girl was not coaxed by anyone to tell her story and the fact she couldn’t remember some things was irrelevant. She said the story was too “bizarre” not to be true.
“Nobody sat there and asked her did he put a screwdriver into your vagina,” she said. “Why would somebody ask that kind of a question to a child and put that notion into a child’s head. That is such a bizarre type of object to even ask about.”
Parker’s attorney, Lisa Wells, said they were very pleased with the outcome.
“We felt like the evidence in this case was underwhelming,” she said. “I think you can believe a child if they are consistent and I hope they don’t think we were trying to blame her (the child) because we never were… this has been devastating for him, absolutely devastating.”
Lorin Bucker said his friend is handling the situation the best he can.
“Like anyone that’s been in that situation, you’re angry, you’re frustrated and you’re trying to get on with your life,” he said. “Anybody can say anything, the big issue for me is now what about the girl, was she a pawn in this thing? Was there an ulterior motive? How did this thing get to court.”
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