A Dawes County District Court jury deliberated about 5 hours last week before finding a Chadron State College student Not Guilty of 1st Degree Sexual Assault.
20-year-old Malik-Ahmed Hosie was accused of having sex with a female student last March after she told him no.
More than a dozen witnesses testified over 3 days with questions raised about the veracity of both Hosie and his accuser.
The jury began deliberations at 1:30 last Thursday, but sent a note to Judge Travis O’Gorman just before 5:00 advising him they were deadlocked.
O’Gorman brought the jury back and questioned the foreman, who said he didn’t believe they were “hopelessly” deadlocked.
O’Gorman told them to take a half-hour break from deliberations, with pizza ordered in. A little over an hour later, the jury said they’d reached a decision.
After the Not Guilty verdict was read, O’Gorman polled the jury by a show of hands with all 12 members indicating they agreed with the verdict.
The jury foreman said later that the members based their verdict on reasonable doubt, which rests with a defendant