A Jones County jury came to an impasse last week in the trial of a Jones County man facing charges of child molestation and aggravated child molestation.
The ending verdict in the trial that began Aug. 26 was not guilty on the most serious charge of aggravated child molestation. Jurors were not able to come to agreement for the remaining two charges.
The defendant was Nathaniel James Gibby, who was arrested on the charges June 24 following a June 3 indictment.
The trial lasted three days, but the presentation of the evidence took less than a day and a half. The remainder of the time was spent in jury deliberations that were spirited enough to be heard in the hallways of the courthouse.
Superior Court Judge Terry Massey presided over the case. The state was represented by Assistant District Attorney Cara Fiore, and defense attorney Keith Fitzgerald represented Gibby.
The complainant in the case was 12 at the time of the alleged molestation and was 17 when she took the stand and the first witness in the state’s case.
She described being touched by the defendant in her bedroom, a toy room and in the garage.
The complainant was followed on the witness stand by the man she considers to be her father, her mother, best friend, investigator Lt. Kenny Gleaton, and Crescent House forensic investigator Courtney Stephens. The video of the Crescent House interview was also viewed by the jury.
When questioned, Stephens stated that the complainant’s statements were consistent with someone who had been molested.
The first day ended when the state rested, and the jury was sent home before 4 p.m.
The defense presented its case Wednesday morning, which consisted of another forensic interviewer, who had a different view of the interview, and two members of the defendant’s family.
The defendant chose not to testify, which is his right under the law, and the defense rested its case.
The final witness was a rebuttal witness called by the state. The evidence was closed at 10:45 a.m., and jurors were adjourned for an early lunch.
The attorneys began their closing arguments at approximately 12:15 p.m.
Statements of witnesses on both sides talked about living conditions that were confusing at times. The families of the complainant and the defendant lived together for two years from 2019 to 2022, and the household also included others. The exact number seemed to fluctuate during testimonies, but it appeared there were at least 10 people living in the home, including two small children.
Much of the testimonies centered around who resided in the different rooms and the layout of the house. The complainant’s father appeared to be at work most of the time. Her mother was suffering from alcoholism and spent a lot of time drinking in the laundry room.
Some of the other adults worked, and others seemed to spend most of the time in their rooms.
The molestation was alleged to have taken place for months, but as in many of the same type of cases, the exact timeline was not known.
The jury received the case to begin their deliberations at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. The first question from the jurors came at 2:20 p.m., asking what happens if they can’t come to a decision.
Massey told them it may seem like they had been at it for a long time, but it had been a little more than an hour.
“It’s not unusual for these deliberations to take several hours,” he said, and sent them back to the jury room.
The judge dismissed the jury for the day at 4:15 p.m., with instructions to get some rest and be ready to start fresh Thursday morning.
After a short delay, deliberations began again at 9:30 a.m. After no progress, Massey called them back to the courtroom at 12:30 p.m. to give them an Allen Charge.
In Georgia, an Allen Charge is a jury instruction given by a judge to a deadlocked jury in a criminal trial, encouraging them to continue deliberating and try to reach a unanimous verdict.
Jurors sent the judge their final note at 1:50 p.m., stating they had a verdict on one count but were not able to agree on the other two counts.
After the foreman read the verdict to the court, Massey thanked the jurors for their service and dismissed them.
“I know you’ve done your best,” the judge said. “We can’t ask more than that.”
