NEW ORLEANS — Did the five men who took the stand to accuse Jack Strain of raping and molesting them as children convince the jury beyond a reasonable doubt?
After nearly two weeks of testimony from alleged victims, investigators, sex crime experts and family members, lawyers made their closing arguments Monday, urging jurors to use common sense as the case was placed in their hands.
Prosecutors focused on the emotional testimony given by Strain’s five accusers. They argued that each story reinforced the others, illustrating Strain’s pattern of abuse and how he kept control over his victims, forcing them to keep his secrets.
“You need to see the complete picture of who (Strain) is,” assistant district attorney Elizabeth Authement said. “Jack Strain was the ultimate manipulator … an expert predator who thought he could get away with it forever.”
The courtroom was filled with Strain’s accusers and their families. Soft crying could be heard from the otherwise quiet crowd as prosecutors recapped the graphic testimony from the alleged victims, recalling the several accusations of rape, molestation and the vivid details that came with them.
“I’m never going to forget the phrase ‘let’s have a taste,’” assistant district attorney Collin Sims said, shuddering as he spoke to the jury.
In a lengthy rebuttal, Strain’s defense challenged the accusers’ credibility and argued that they were part of a federal conspiracy to take down the once-powerful St. Tammany Parish Sheriff.
“This has been a government manufactured case against Jack Strain using coercion and manipulation,” attorney Billy Gibbens said.
Gibbens emphasized common sense, urging the jury to look beyond the emotional testimony and see the holes in the accusers’ stories. Despite expert testimony to the contrary, Gibbens said that it’s common sense that a 10-year-old boy wouldn’t be able to get an erection and penetrate a much larger teenager, as one accuser claimed. He also said it’s common sense that abuse victims wouldn’t maintain a close relationship with their abusers.
Two of Strain’s accusers are convicted felons. Gibbens called them “walking, talking reasonable doubt,” and said that the jury couldn’t trust anything they said. The other two were blackmailed and forced into their testimony, according to Gibbens, noting that both of them said they were terrified of the FBI.
“The truth is the government has not met its burden,” Gibbens said. “Use your common sense and come back with a verdict of not guilty in this case.”
Assistant district attorney Collin Sims addressed the jury one final time before they were sequestered, calling the idea that these five accusers and their family members had orchestrated a conspiracy against Strain laughable and echoing Gibbens’ call for common sense.
“He had an insatiable taste for something that is the most forbidden: Children. Boys. His own relatives,” Sims said, his fervor growing with each word. “There is no doubt – zero – that he is guilty of every single act up there.”
Strain faces four counts of aggravated rape, each carrying a life sentence. He also faces two counts of aggravated incest and one count each of sexual battery and indecent behavior with a juvenile.