SPOKANE, Wash. -- A jury has found a former Spokane Police Sergeant guilty of second degree rape.
Gordon Ennis will be taken into custody immediately and transported to the Spokane County Jail. The jury of five women and seven men deliberated for about two hours before coming to the guilty verdict.
This case came down to who's testimony the jury believed. Ultimately they believed the victim when she said she did not consent and was unconscious when Ennis sexually assaulted her at a house party in 2015.
In closing arguments Wednesday morning, the jury was asked to look at the facts of the case and evaluate the credibility of witnesses who testified including the victim and Ennis. The prosecution said Ennis' version of what happened that night went against testimony from other witnesses who said the victim was highly intoxicated. Instead, the state said in Ennis' version, the victim was a fully aware woman who was the sexual aggressor. The state also pointed to how hard this crime was for the victim to report and the implications it has had on a job she has dreamed of doing her whole life.
"She also talked to you about why she feared coming forward, why she feared naming the defendant. She told you all of the things she was concerned about and she also told you the reality of her life once she told. Despite that reality, despite how tough it's been for her, she's done two things. She's refused to give up on a job she loves and she has abided by the truth in this courtroom under oath in front of each of you and everyone else here," Deputy prosecutor Kelly Fitzgerald told the jury.
Spokane Police Chief Craig Meidl issued this statement following the verdict:
“Foremost as a department we will continue to support the officer involved and ensure she has all available resources to assist her on both a personal and professional level. She is a valuable member of our agency and we will ensure that we do everything in our power to help her in the healing process.
This has been a difficult time for everyone—those directly involved, their families and friends, our community and our department. The serious impact this incident, investigation and trial has had cannot be disregarded or minimized.
We have confidence and respect for due process of the criminal justice system. With that said, we will not be able to comment further as we know an appeals process could follow after today’s guilty verdict.”
There is no date set yet for sentencing. The state also did not say what sentence they plan to recommend but the standard sentencing range is six and a half to eight and a half years.