Jerry Flatlip, Larson Rondeau, and Randall Flatlip, the three men on trial for the rape of a 9-year-old Uintah County girl in 2016, were found Not Guilty by a jury in a Salt Lake City courtroom on Wednesday. The state and defense presented their closing statements on Tuesday afternoon, day 5 of the jury trial. The jury deliberated throughout the afternoon before adjourning at 5:00pm with no verdict reached. Deliberations resumed Wednesday morning with the verdict of Not Guilty on both counts being announced at 9:30am. The heaviest amount of evidence in the state’s case was the personal testimony of the girl, who is now 11 years old. “It is our job to present the evidence to the jury and it is the jury’s job to determine what to do with that evidence,” shares Uintah County Attorney Mark Thomas. “I will tell you from my perspective that we would like to be able to present cases with overwhelming evidence at all times but we believe that an eye witness to the crime should have the opportunity to testify and that should be weighed accordingly.” Thomas says that it worries him to think about children who wait to disclose abuse and what that means. In this case the girl came forward 36 hours after the alleged event when the recommended time frame to capture evidence for a child of her age is within 24 hours. The child’s testimony was consistent, says Thomas, and there were “a lot of reasons it was credible….but we respect the system and we just have to respect the jury’s decision.” Flatlip, Rondeau, and Flatlip were not released from custody as all three are being held on other charges.
