Rape case ends in mistrial

After nearly five hours of deliberation, a mistrial was declared in a local child molestation trial.

Derek Holt, who was accused of raping a 3-year-old girl in 2006, had to wait through five long days of a jury trial to learn if he would be convicted or not. The jury returned to the courtroom about 10 p.m. Monday night to deliver their verdict of a mistrial on the count of rape, however, they found Holt guilty on the second count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child.

During their closing statements, both Bourbon County Attorney Terri Johnson and Holt's attorney Mark Fern pled their cases to the jury. Johnson said she talked to the jury explaining that they had been presented with the evidence and that it was up to them to make the decision on what to believe.

"(The jury) can believe all of it, or (the jury) can believe none of it," Johnson said.

Fern spoke to the jury about how he believes the state didn't follow up on any other possibilities, and how the story of what happened kept changing.

"This was an investigation that ran away ... nobody looked for an alternative hypothesis," Fern said. "The story keeps changing ... isn't this reasonable doubt."

Johnson responded, "Why would a 3-year-old make this up?"

Because of the mistrial ruling, the state has the option to retry the case, according to Johnson. She added she has not yet made that decision.

Following the verdict delivery, Holt was taken into custody and will be sentenced at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 30. According to Bourbon County Court records, an amended complaint was filed Jan. 25, 2007, to update the maximum sentence to a life sentence in accordance with 2006 Session Laws Chapter 212, Section 11, also known as Jessica's Law.