VIENNA —With no evidence aside from one state witness, a Phelps County jury deliberated for five hours before they declared they were unable to determine if Shad Lincoln is guilty of six felony charges of first-degree statutory rape and sodomy in Maries County.

A new trial will be set on Oct. 7 when Judge William Hickle comes to Maries County for his law day.

The trial for the Maries County case was held in Rolla Sept. 9 and 10 on a change of venue to Phelps County with Hickle presiding.

Lincoln, 45, formerly of High Gate, and now a resident of the Missouri Department of Corrections, was changed in early 2019 with six felonies and one misdemeanor for his alleged sexual incidents with his wife’s niece, then a 13-year-old girl.

He was in the courtroom, dressed nicely in formal wear and a tie on each day as he sat with his attorneys, Public Defenders Matthew Crowell and Thomas Schmitz.

Maries County Prosecuting Attorney Anthony “Tony” Skouby represented the state at the trial. He was accompanied in the courtroom by his assistant Denise Davis.

Skouby and Crowell were locked in a legal battle throughout the two-day trial, raising objections throughout the testimony of most of the witnesses.

A jury pool of over 60 people were in the courtroom the first day for voir dire, which is the selection of a jury after a preliminary examination of the prospective members by the attorneys. The attorneys said the case is a “She said, He said” case. From this large pool, five men and nine women were selected.

There were only four witnesses called during Lincoln’s jury trial. The state’s first and primary witness was the victim, now 14-year-old HR. There were no theatrics or tears and she appeared to be calm during the long time she spent in the witness chair. She pointed out and identified Lincoln in the courtroom saying he was married to her dad’s sister and lived at her grandmother’s house in High Gate.

HR gave a long and detailed description of the alleged sex acts perpetrated by Lincoln.

Maries County Sheriff’s Detective Ken Kilmer was the second state’s witness to testify. . Kilmer said he first met HR when he interviewed her and later he went to her forensic interview at Kids Harbor II where her answers were similar to the ones she’d given him a few days before.

The clothing she was wearing during the last sexual incident with Lincoln was collected as evidence, but is still in possession of the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Lab results were unavailable at the time of the trial.

Kilmer who said the clothing used as evidence was brought to him. Lincoln’s clothing was given to him by Crystal Lincoln to be photographed taken into evidence. He also received HR’s jeans and underwear. He asked the lab for DNA reporting on the truck seats, but was told they were too old and dirty to have results that would meet his expectations.

He checked with the lab in August and was told nothing had been tested.

Kilmer visited the junkyard and took photos of the game camera and the back side of the bird feeder to roughly show the view the camera would take. The camera’s SD card took photos correctly and when checked, the time stamp was corrected, and all photos were of the same area.

Skouby questioned Kilmer again, asking if the photos on the game camera could be deleted and Kilmer said yes. There is a gap in the dates, from Feb. 5 through Feb. 12, Kilmer said. Skouby said that’s seven days with no photos.

Kilmer said Lincoln’s wife brought his clothing to the sheriff’s office and he did not know if they’d been washed or not. HR’s mom brought her clothing. The lab has not tested the clothing yet, he said. At this point on Monday, Sept. 9, the state rested.

The next morning, Crowell said Lincoln had decided he will not testify.

Next, Crowell asked for a ruling on a judgement of acquittal and Hickle overruled the motion. The defense witness, Randall Railey was not present that morning and the court went into recess, hoping he would be in court by 1 p.m. in the afternoon.

Railey showed up before 1 p.m. on Tuesday. Schmitz questioned Railey who said he is HR’s father and Lincoln’s brother-in-law. He did not want to testify in the case. He said HR came to his home on weekends and it was her choice to do so.

Skouby called as a rebuttal witness Samantha Richardson who is HR’s mother, who Railey was married, to testify to Railey’s reputation for truth and veracity. She said when he’s on drugs, Railey lies a lot.

Skouby and Crowell were at odds on much of the witness testimony and Richardson’s testimony was no exception. After her time on the stand a recess was taken.

Skouby attempted to call as a witness Jessica Gregory, who is a program manager and interviewer with Kids Harbor. He wanted her to testify about the difficulty of child victims testifying in court and to explain how a child exposed to a preliminary hearing, dispositions and a trial may have different answers, but not because they don’t want to be truthful.

Crowell said it is not the subject of a rebuttal. The state rested and this witness allows the state to reopen its case. The witness was sprung on the defense and they’ve never seen her before today and have no idea what she will say.

He said it would violate his client’s right to due process because the defense was not made aware of the witness.

Skouby said he didn’t know about her until Friday. Hickle would not allow the testimony of that witness.

Skouby told the jury that the entire defense of Lincoln is to “rake the victim over the coals. She is the victim. She told the truth. She admitted all of her bad deeds.”

He said HR testified four times and that “takes guts.” The defense made a big deal about her going back after the incidents happened but “It’s a crime for him to do it; she is thirteen.” He said these things happen to vulnerable, at-risk girls who has a father who allows her to be in a junkyard at night with a 45-year-old man.

Skouby said Lincoln groomed his victim with cigarettes, marijuana, and by letting her drive. He preyed upon her vulnerability after her grandfather died. He said she’s telling the truth and the jurors need to go back to their room and bring back a guilty verdict.

Lincoln is an adult and HR is a child he took advantage of.

Skouby said there are gaps in the game camera photo.

“I wonder why?” He asked the jury for seven counts of guilty because she is 13-years-old. He went through all of the counts against Lincoln and said he wants a guilty verdict on each of them because she is 13.

“I believe I proved beyond a reasonable doubt” that Lincoln is guilty. HR has been consistent in her testimony and she was raked over the coals but she’s stood her ground because she believes he needs to pay for the crimes he committed against her. “And, I do, too,” he said.

Crowell made the closing statement for the defense, saying HR is a troubled teen that can’t be trusted, “Not when a man’s life is at stake.”

She has been known to lie, steal, she’s been in and out of school, smoking, and her own father said she can’t be trusted. He said HR is no stranger to trouble, smoking since she was 9-years-old, stealing cigarettes from her mom, vaping and smoking marijuana.

Crowell said the burden of proof rests with the state and the jurors must be firmly convinced that has been done.

Everything the state has depends on the words of a troubled teen, Crowell said, and they should not put an innocent man in prison.

Skouby rebutted that HR is not on trial, Lincoln is. Lincoln is charged with seven crimes.

He asked the jurors to imagine being a 13-year-old girl and on the witness stand three times over a span of nine months telling the same story with 100 different details and always getting it right. She’s been called names and has had her character degraded while she’s trying to tell the truth. He said the game camera pictures could have been deleted by anyone.

“I want you to believe Shad Lincoln committed a crime and I want you to convict him of it,” Skouby told the jury.

The jury exited the courtroom and did not return until five hours later when they said they could not come to an agreement and a mistrial was declared.

The following day, Crowell said he was disappointed the jury could not reach a decision but is happy Lincoln was vindicated. He’s ready to push forward to get another trial date soon.

About the legal back and forth with Skouby, Crowell said, “He’s a worthy opponent” and a challenge to work with, but he looks forward to more trials with him.

Crowell said he was surprised by the verdict, a mistrial, because he thought they would get a not guilty verdict.

After the trial Skouby said, “It takes twelve to convict and twelve to acquit. If all twelve can’t agree, you have a mistrial. This is what happened here.” Skouby said there is a state’s witness who was out of the country at the time of the trial and he anticipates that witness will be back from India soon. He added he still does not have the lab results back from the crime lab and will reevaluate then.