Jury finds man not guilty of rape, sodomy

Whisper Cain, left, Eli Lee McKeehan, his mother, Jerry McKeehan, and father, Fred McKeehan, leave the Vernon County Courthouse holding hands after Eli McKeehan was acquitted of statutory rape and statutory sodomy Friday afternoon. Rusty Murry/Daily Mail

A Stockton man is not guilty of raping a teen-age relative in August 2011, a Vernon County Circuit Court jury decided Friday afternoon.

It only took the seven-woman and five-man jury an hour and 40 minutes to find Eli Lee McKeehan, 27, not guilty of statutory rape and sodomy. An alternate juror -- a man -- was dismissed before the jury began deliberations.

McKeehan was originally charged in Cedar County, but the trial was held in Vernon County Circuit Court on a change of venue. Jury selection, opening statements and testimony from several prosecution witnesses took up most of the day Thursday, with testimony resuming Friday morning.

Cedar County Prosecutor Rick Pohlsander rested the state's case as soon as court reconvened. McKeehan was the first defense witness.

McKeehan denied all of the allegations made by the 18-year-old girl, who was 16 when she accused McKeehan of raping her and using digital penetration. He testified he had never discussed sex, had sex or even made any sexual innuendoes to the young woman who said he raped her in August 2011.

Defense attorney Blane Baker used testimony from a few witnesses in an attempt to show the girl's testimony was not reliable. Those witnesses contradicted her testimony that McKeehan's young son was at his father's house during the alleged rape.

The child's mother testified McKeehan was unable to care for the 1-year-old boy because of an injury he had received at work when a bucket truck he was working in broke and crashed to the ground.

McKeehan's boss testified that McKeehan was restricted to light duty and unable to pick up anything heavy because of the injury.

The defense also argued that it was unlikely that McKeehan picked up the young woman, threw her over his shoulder and carried her to the bedroom as she earlier testified.

McKeehan and others further testified he had difficulty balancing himself when picking up objects because he had severely cut the big toe and next two toes of his right foot with a circular saw several years before. He showed the jury his missing big toe and injured other two.

After testimony from several witnesses, Judge James R. Bickel called an early lunch and reserved the time after the meal for closing arguments.

In his closing arguments, Pohlsander said the alleged rape was a simple case of McKeehan wanting "to satisfy his own sexual desires," but he also acknowledged it was hard to know who to believe since there was no physical evidence. Baker countered, however, telling jurors "if you don't know who to believe, that is reasonable doubt."

The girl had testified Thursday that she did not seek treatment and did not tell anyone about the incident until that December. After receiving instructions from the judge, the jury began deliberations at 1:05 and returned with the verdicts by 2:45.

Baker said he usually doesn't comment on cases, but he was "very happy" with the verdict.

McKeehan, his girlfriend, mother and father were elated with the jury's decision. McKeehan said he was "very pleased" with the verdict and said the case had been quite a strain on all his family, especially he and his mother.

Now, he just wanted to go home to Stockton and get his life back, he said, adding he wanted to "be free to hunt again -- be free to take my son to school." He planned to celebrate a little bit, but on Monday, it's back to work.