John Goodwin Kills Himself Hours Before Judge Declairs Mistrial In Felonious Sexual Assault Trial

[CbabyRKO]

A 75-year-old New Hampshire piano teacher on trial for allegedly sexually assaulting a teenage student killed himself hours before the case was declared a mistrial Friday.

John Goodwin, a longtime music instructor in Atkinson, was charged with six counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault after a student, now 24, came forward and said he was sexually assaulted from 2001 to 2005 starting when he was 11, reports New England Cable News.

The trial began Monday, and as the jury was deliberating Friday, Goodwin stepped outside of the Rockingham County Superior Court and shot himself in the chest with a handgun, the station reported. He was transported to a hospital where he died of his injuries.


The jury decided not to convict the defendant a few hours later. They did not know what had occurred, the station reported.

The accuser testified Tuesday that he finally came forward in 2013 after years of being embarrassed and not wanting people to know what allegedly happened to him, reports TV Station WMUR.

[...]

The defense said there were holes in the young man's story and that Goodwin's wife was teaching him during periods he claimed he was assaulted.

Defense attorney Joe Welsh told the jury his client's contact with the defendant was not criminal.

"He did hug his student, rubbed his back, massage," Welsh said. "It's not a crime. Whether it's appropriate, that's different."

http://m.nydailynews.com/news/crime/n-h-man-kills-sex-assault-trial-article-1.2199478

 

[Athena]

A mistrial is not the same as an acquittal. An acquittal means the jury has uniformly found the defendant not guilty, and it is a conclusion to a trial.

A mistrial is determined prior to a conclusion. A mistrial can be called for any number of reasons, a technicality or, more commonly, a hung jury. I imagine this jury was hung. But, with a mistrial, the state is free to pursue a new trial should it find the effort worthwhile.

The suicide does not lend itself to speculation of innocence, so it's a shame the young man didn't receive formal justice.

 

[Alf]

The reporter got it wrong. He doesn't have the excuse that his source erred; it is all on him. New England Cable News reported that

The jury in the case reached a mistrial later Friday afternoon

though even those reporters had the sequence of events bass ackwards.

And that was a good call, Athena:

Michael Winter, USA TODAY 8:52 p.m. EDT April 24, 2015

A 75-year-old New Hampshire piano teacher awaiting a jury's verdict on charges of sexually assaulting a former student shot and killed himself outside court Friday morning, authorities said.

Five hours later, jurors announced they were deadlocked and could not reach a verdict on the six felony counts of aggravated sexual assault against John Goodwin, of Atkinson, N.H., and the judge declared a mistrial.

Link

--Al

 

[Forensicwx]

A mistrial is not the same as an acquittal. An acquittal means the jury has uniformly found the defendant not guilty, and it is a conclusion to a trial.

A mistrial is determined prior to a conclusion. A mistrial can be called for any number of reasons, a technicality or, more commonly, a hung jury. I imagine this jury was hung. But, with a mistrial, the state is free to pursue a new trial should it find the effort worthwhile.

The suicide does not lend itself to speculation of innocence, so it's a shame the young man didn't receive formal justice.

Except it says the jury decided not to convict him, unaware of what had occured. That would be an aquittal.

ETA: Never mind. Thanks Alf. That would be the reporter's fault.

 

[BostonBurns]

It being declared a mistrial, I'm sure the defendant was particularly convinced the probability was high that he was going to jail, either rightfully so or not. I'm not going to conclude that the dude was guilty based solely on his suicide, as judges and juries convict innocent people all the time, but massaging the kid's back is just plain fucking creepy, so that makes me suspect that he probably had done something far worse.