Posted on Tuesday, August 16th, 2016 at 12:33 pm
24-year-old former Illinois State University student William Wells was acquitted of sexual assault charges on Friday, August 12 in McLean County Circuit Court in Illinois.
After a deliberation of about four hours, the jury returned with a not guilty verdict in the case of Wells, who was accused of raping a woman in February at his apartment in Normal. The trial lasted for four days and ended on Thursday, August 11. The jurors talked for around an hour on Thursday, and continued their discussion of the case at the Law and Justice Center on Friday morning. At the time of the supposed incident, Wells was a student at ISU and the woman, who was 18, was visiting from a college in northern Illinois.
Wells was also cleared of a charge of resisting arrest, a misdemeanor. Judge Robert Freitag also dismissed obstruction of justice charges against the accused. He agreed with Wells’ legal counsel, Stephanie Wong, that the state of Illinois was not able to provide sufficient evidence that Wells destroyed evidence at his apartment.
If you are charged with a criminal offense, such as rape or obstructing justice, in Champaign or another area of Illinois, contact our criminal defense attorneys at the Bruno Law Offices today by calling (217) 328-6000.