Ryan went to jury trial in northern Minnesota on a case where his client was charged with Criminal Sexual Conduct in the First Degree. The charge carried a possible 30 years in prison with a presumptive 12 years commitment to prison if convicted. Ryan impeached the investigating officer and Detective by showing the jury that despite having clear guidelines and police procedure manuals on how to investigate criminal sexual conduct cases, they did not follow the recommended procedure of gathering evidence and investigating the case.
Ryan’s presented the testimony of an expert witness who was a highly educated psychologist, doctor and lawyer, who testified about the failure to investigate alternative hypothesis, the issue of confirmation bias and recovered and false memories regarding trauma. He also explained to the jury what safeguards should generally be put in place regarding these investigations and what the dangers are when those safeguards are not put in place. Finally, the expert testified about the dangers of leading questions and how a single word in a question or sentence can create false memories in an alleged victim, so much so that the alleged victim doesn’t even know that their memory was changed.
The jury started deliberating at approximately 4:45 pm on Friday and completed acquitted Ryan’s client by 6:30 p.m. Ryan’s client walked out the doors of the courthouse rather than into the doors of a prison.
Jury Verdict Document