Prosecutors will not seek a new trial in a Cabool sexual assault case. That comes after a jury in Pulaski County, hearing it on a change of venue, was unable to reach a verdict this summer.
The allegations against Ronald Stevens, a former Cabool resident, date to Dec. 28, 2021.
The case ended in a hung jury after jurors announced that they were deadlocked – 11 not guilty on all charges and only one guilty. Another trial was scheduled to commence this week.
About two years ago, the Cabool Police Department was dispatched to the report of a sexual assault in Cabool. The officer reported making contact with a woman who claimed Ronald Stevens came into her house without her knowledge and that there was non-consensual sexual contact. When Stevens was interviewed, he told officers that the parties had engaged in a consensual sexual act.
In August, the jury heard opening statements and from the state’s six witnesses. The jury heard from three defense witnesses, who testified about a flirtatious relationship between the parties, which the woman denied. After deliberating for approximately seven hours, and with a deadlocked jury, Presiding Circuit Judge William E. Hickle declared a mistrial.
Ronald Stevens was represented at trial and preparations for the second trial by Lacon Marie Smith, a criminal defense attorney at Smith Criminal Defense in Springfield.