Guilty verdict returned in Spence case

by Mark Dykes

Following a three-day trial, and about three hours of deliberation, a jury returned a verdict of guilty to the charge of incest in a case against Justin Spence. The charge states he molested a juvenile on July 4 or 5, 2014.

In a trial that had already seen plenty of emotional testimony, when the verdict was read tears were shed by Spence himself, as well as by both those supporting him and those on the opposing end. It was a long road to the verdict, as the trial had seen a couple re-schedules, the most recent in December due to procedural issue.

During opening arguments, prosecuting attorney Marcia Bean said the case began with the juvenile’s birth and her growing up. At that time, Spence would visit her family, and she came to develop a close relationship with him. Spence would eventually move to Thermopolis, and the juvenile and her mom would later follow suit. Bean said the juvenile would come to think of Spence as her confidant, someone she would go to for advice.

On July 4, 2014, Bean said, the juvenile would join her family in shooting off fireworks at the Cody Loop, as much of her family and Spence would be there, and the offer was made to her to spend the night. The juvenile’s mother agreed.

Later that evening, Bean said, Spence and his girlfriend, along with the juvenile, were listening to music and drinking alcohol, provided by Spence, when he got up and went to the bathroom. At this point, Bean said, the juvenile begins receiving inappropriate texts which she is assured are for her.

As the night goes, Bean said, the juvenile would find herself alone with Spence, as his girlfriend had gone to bed. Spence made advances that become increasingly aggressive, Bean, said, and the juvenile attempts to get away from him. Eventually she leaves the residence and returns when she thought he was asleep, only for the texts to start again.

Though the juvenile would keep the incident a secret from her family for over a month, Bean said it came out later in a counseling session Aug. 12 and the counselor was obligated to report it.

Defense attorney Travis Smith, in his opening arguments, asked the jury to look at Aug. 22, 2014, the date of Spence’s interview into the matter. In that interview, Smith said, Spence stated during the night of the incident the juvenile snuck out of his home and went to another residence nearby, spending about an hour there before returning.

Smith also pointed out it was not until a later interview, in March of 2015, that the juvenile first mentions Spence’s sending her inappropriate texts and his aggressive advances. Also during the interview, Smith said, it was discovered the juvenile and another subject — Spence’s neighbor — had been making plans prior to the incident, and the juvenile had a relationship with the other subject, who was an adult.

Though the alleged incident happened around July 4 or 5 of 2014, Smith pointed out it’s not until Aug. 12 of that year that the juvenile reported it.

Spence is not denying the juvenile is at his home during the dates in question, Smith said, noting the jury would hear two parallel stories in the course of the trial.

Because much of what occurred was done via text messages, the trial saw testimony from a cell phone company representative, who testified to the number of texts — over 200 — sent and received between Spence’s phone number and the juvenile’s. The representative further testified that the phone records do not indicate whether Spence’s phone was in his possession or someone else’s during the time of the texts.

The first day also had emotional testimony from the juvenile as she recounted the series of events during the dates in question. During her testimony, she recalled going to Spence’s home and him serving her alcohol. She further testified to his later getting up and going to the bathroom, and her receipt of inappropriate texts and picture messages from him while he was in there.

The juvenile stated she knew the messages were from him, as it was his number which appeared on her phone. She did not report the messages to Spence’s girlfriend, who was also in the residence, as she didn’t know how to respond to them.

Spence, she said, also asked her to send him a picture of herself and threatened her that “something would happen” if she didn’t.

Other testimony presented during the trial concerned the juvenile’s mental issues and drug use prior to the incident, as well as the counseling she underwent and her relationship with Spence’s neighbor.

In her closing arguments, Bean said after the juvenile spoke to her counselor about the incident, and the counselor reported it, a multi-disciplinary team meeting was set up. During that meeting, Bean noted, the juvenile becomes very upset because she doesn’t want to destroy her family or have this get to the point of a trial; she thought after speaking about it, it would go away.

Following the meeting, there are concerns about the girl’s mental state. She attends one counseling program but the bad behavior continues. However, in the second program —which she completed in June 2015 — she is more successful; her counselor also diagnosis her with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and anxiety, with sexual abuse as the basis. Bean noted the juvenile was allowed a leave in March 2015 to be interviewed again, and this time she’s prepared to tell her story no matter what.

As for Spence, Bean said his story is that he did not serve the juvenile alcohol, and while she was spending the night at his home he and his girlfriend woke up and noticed she’s missing. They claim to search for her, Bean said, though nobody checks the residence of the neighbor she’s known to have a relationship with and nobody calls family or law enforcement. Bean spoke again to the number of texts, noting there are 215 between Spence’s phone number and the juvenile’s during the night of July 4 and early morning of July 5, 2014.

Bean asked the jury to use common sense and look at who had something to gain in this, further noting the juvenile had nothing to gain, already having lost her confidant and other family members and having to go through treatment.

Defense attorney Smith said it wasn’t until Aug. 22, 2014, when Spence is first contacted by law enforcement, that this becomes a part of his life. Spence doesn’t dispute the juvenile stayed at his residence, but is concerned about the charge being brought against him.

There’s a lot of overlap between the two stories, Smith said. Spence stated that, at one point, the juvenile was not at his residence at some point during the night. He denied serving her any alcoholic beverages, and that there was any sexual contact between him and the juvenile. Smith further pointed out there were deviations in the juvenile’s story as she told it at different times, though Spence did not deviate because he has nothing to hide.

Later, Smith argued the juvenile had a hard time keeping her story together because it wasn’t true in the first place. He also posed the scenario in which Spence’s girlfriend threatened to tell the juvenile’s mom about her relationship with the neighbor, and the juvenile went after Spence in retaliation.

With regard to the juvenile’s interviews, Smith said, she admits to being intimate with Spence’s neighbor in the time she was absent from Spence’s residence, but did so because she was drunk and Spence was trying to do things with her. Smith said it slowly came out later that the juvenile and the neighbor were making a plan, and there was evidence they were texting beforehand.

Smith also pointed out, in the Aug. 12 interview, nobody asks to look at the juvenile’s phone. As for the list of texts, Smith again pointed out it only shows there were several texts between Spence and the juvenile — he noted they had a history of texting — but the list presented doesn’t show the actual content of those texts.

The prosecution, Smith said, wants to paint a picture of a girl in trouble, but what really happened is she painted herself into a corner and the result is a case “fraught with doubt.”

During her rebuttal, Bean said Smith was “grasping at straws” in his defense, and bringing up the juvenile’s relationship with the neighbor was like comparing apples to oranges. She later noted the relationship with the neighbor was a “red herring” to make the juvenile look promiscuous and distract from what Spence did.

Though no date has been set for Spence’s sentencing, he faces imprisonment of up to 15 years and a fine of up to $10,000.