Tears of relief came over William D. “Bill” Wallace’s oldest daughter and mother as a “Not Guilty” verdict was read by Judge Jan Satterfield and Wallace pointed to the sky, last Friday, May 25. The not guilty verdict came after three full days of testimony were delivered during the jury trial where Wallace appeared before Judge Satterfield for two counts; Count 1 Rape, offender 18 or older and victim less than 14 years of age and Count 2, Aggravated criminal sodomy, offender 18 or older and child less than 14. Both counts are off-grid person felonies. The second count was dismissed before the closing statements and jury instructions were provided.
The jury took just 14 minutes to deliberate last Friday afternoon and the verdict was read shortly before the courthouse closed for the week. After the verdict, The Eureka Herald reached out to jury foreman Larry Jones. He shared, “Something happened to that little girl. Something traumatized her. But, based on the evidence, there was nothing that would give me a hint of doubt that he did anything inappropriate with that girl.”
