M. Stinson Found Innocent

It took jurors just more than two hours Wednesday to find Marvin Stinson, formerly of Shady Dale, innocent of child molestion.

Criminal proceedings began Tuesday morning for the accused. He was charged with three counts of child molestation and one count each for enticing a child for indecent purposes and aggravated child molestation for events that transpired November 2, 2002.

He was indicted last February.

After disposing of several criminal offenses Monday, jury selection for Mr. Stinson’s trial began Tuesday with the testimony wrapping up Wednesday afternoon.

District attorney Dawn Baskin-Robinson and defense attorney Jerry Boykin spent three hours polling the jurors prior to selecting a jury of eight males and four females to decipher the evidence presented in the sex crime.
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The defendant, a resident of Atlanta, entered a not guilty plea to all charges surrounding a visit to Jasper County last fall. Mr. Stinson allegedly enticed and molested an 11-year old Macon resident while she was participating in a ‘sleep over’ birthday party with four friends at a relatives house in Shady Dale.

On Tuesday the prosecution called 10 witnesses to testify including the alleged victim, now age 12, her mother, grandmother, aunt, and two ‘sleep over’ participants.

Also testifying for the state was Jasper County Sheriff Department deputy David Lynch and investigator Ed Young, Dr. Wanes Barsemian of the Primary Care Center and former Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) special agent Kim Williams.

The young victim testified that following a day at the local festival she was invited to spend the night at a relative’s house with four other female youths, all approximately the same age.

After attending a neighborhood cook-out, the girls returned to the relative’s home, where three adults including Mr. Stinson were staying that evening.

After watching the movie “Love and Basketball,” she testified that the ‘sleep over’ participants all went to bed. She and two other girls slept in the bedroom across the hall from the defendant’s room with the other two sleeping on the living room couch.

She stated that at some point in the middle of the night, Mr. Stinson entered the room in which she slept and “pulled her out of bed.”

The young victim’s account continued with him taking her to his room to undress her and himself. At which point he got on top of her and started “moving back and forward.”

After a small break from testimony because of an emotional outburst from the victim’s mother following the 12 year-old’s recollection of the event, the prosecution placed her back on the stand. She then testified that “Marvin threatened that someone would die if she told anyone.”

When questioned as to why she didn’t scream, kick or reject the advances in any way, she said “I couldn’t move, I couldn’t move.”

Evidence entered Tuesday included a pair of underwear and jeans worn by the victim after the alleged incident. Both articles were blood stained.

Dr. Barsemian who completed a rape kit on the victim the day after the crime allegedly transpired. He said the victim was brought to the emergency room at Jasper Memorial Hospital on November 3 by several family members.

In the presence of her parents and an nurse, Dr. Barsemian performed the exam noticing fresh blood in her vaginal area and lacerations or irregular cuts on her genitals.

According to testimony from the victim’s mother, the youth had not begun her menstrual cycle at the time of the incident. It was not until February 2003 that it began.

Commenting on her emotional state during the examination, he said “She was teary, scared and embarrassed.”

When asked what could cause injuries of that nature, the doctor said “a solid object inserted into the vagina.” He said that the hymen was not intact and made a recommendation that the victim visit a pediatrician and gynecologist.

She was then transported to the Coliseum Hospital in Macon, where she was admitted for the night.

He also testified that he did not recover any semen obvious to the naked eye.

The last witness for the prosecution on Tuesday was Agent Williams, who now works as a child abuse specialist. She said her services were enlisted on the Monday following the incident when she made several attempts to locate the defendant and interview the family of the alleged victim.

She testified that Mr. Stinson was located on November 14 in Atlanta and that he consistently denied any sexual involvement with the youth.

Defense attorney Jerry Boykin hammered the agent about the apparent lack of immediate effort to locate Mr. Stinson if local law enforcement believed that he had indeed performed such a crime.

Mr. Boykin made note of the fact that none of the adults in the home on the night in question, other the defendant, were interviewed and that no search of the premises was conducted.

The criminal trial reconvened Wednesday morning with the prosecution continuing its case with three witnesses two of whom cited incidents that involved molestation by Mr. Stinson years prior.
The defendant took the stand as the only witness for the prosecution. He maintained his innocence throughout his testimony and the cross examination.

In closing remarks Attorney Boykin urged the jury to think through all the evidence presented. He said that something unquestionably happened to the victim but that there was no evidence to convict his client beyond a reasonable doubt.