A Carter County Criminal Court jury acquitted Brandon Wade Winchester of one count of sexual abuse battery (without consent) of a juvenile last Thursday.

Winchester was charged via a grand jury presentment largely based on testimony from now retired Carter County Sheriff’s Lt. Randy Bowers on March 9. The grand jury then handed down a true presentment that alleged that sometime between November 1, 2015 and December 30, 2015, Winchester committed the offense of sexual battery “by engaging in unlawful sexual contact [with the victim]… and the defendant knew or had reason to know at the time of contact that the victim did not consent.”

The witness list attached to the presentment showed that the grand jury only heard testimony from Bowers before charging Winchester.

After his subsequent arrest to answer the charge, Winchester posted a $5,000 bond and began the long journey through the court process to clear his name

According to Winchester’s attorney, Cameron Hyder, the case against his client was a classic “he said, she said.”

Hyder said that the victim had accused his client of touching her breast while she was waking up in the morning. The 15-year-old did not recall the exact date of when he allegedly did this, and it was this fact that made the case complex.

“This has been a difficult case for everyone involved,” said Hyder.

The jury that heard the case deliberated for about three hours before returning a unanimous verdict of not guilty of offense of sexual battery. Court documents also show that the jury rejected finding Winchester guilty of the lesser offenses of attempted sexual battery and assault by extremely offensive or provocative physical contact.

“My client has maintained his innocence, and we are glad that the wheels of justice worked,” said Hyder. “We believe that the jury came back with the correct verdict based on the evidence.”

The prosecutor in the case was unavailable for comment at press time.

Research shows that Winchester’s case broke a 12-year losing streak for defendants who take their cases to jury for sexually based offenses rather than take a plea deal.