By Katy Barnitz
Albuquerque Journal
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A county jail sergeant accused of raping three inmates was acquitted Wednesday of half the charges he faced, and a mistrial was declared on the other half because jurors could not agree on his guilt or innocence.
Torry Chambers was found not guilty of three counts of criminal sexual penetration, including one count that alleged he facilitated the rape of a female inmate by a male inmate.
Prosecutors argued that Chambers had sex with one woman in a library and two others in the jail’s infirmary.
After just an afternoon of deliberations, jurors also determined they would be unable to come to a unanimous decision on the three remaining criminal sexual penetration charges. A member of the jury said after the verdict that nine jurors believed Chambers was not guilty of the remaining counts, while three believed he was guilty.
Second Judicial District Judge Stan Whitaker declared a mistrial on those counts, which involve two alleged victims. Prosecutors have 10 days to decide whether they will retry Chambers.
In closing statements Wednesday morning, Chambers’ attorney, William Cooley, argued that the women concocted their stories for profit. Bernalillo County, which manages the Metropolitan Detention Center, settled a civil case in 2012 involving rape allegations against Chambers for $925,000. Two of the three women involved in the criminal case were parties in that lawsuit.
A third woman involved in the civil lawsuit did not testify in the criminal trial, and just days before trial, the state dropped the two counts against Chambers that involved her.
“There’s 925,000 reasons not to be truthful,” Cooley told jurors.
Prosecutors acknowledged a settlement, but did not address that theory.
Cooley reiterated the theory in a brief interview after the trial.
“They were all housed together, they all knew each other,” he said. “And they had a plan to make money.”
In his closing argument, he urged jurors to remember the testimony of a polygraph expert who said Chambers was being truthful when he denied having sex with inmates.
“He passed this polygraph test with flying colors,” Cooley said.
Prosecutors called the test highly subjective and not based in science.
Cooley noted that the case had no physical evidence, which prosecutors said was because all three women disclosed the assaults long after they allegedly took place.
Prosecutors Jacqueline James and Larissa Callaway argued that the three female inmates were the perfect victims.
“They can’t escape their assailant,” James said. “There’s nowhere for them to go. That’s why they don’t disclose. And on top of that, they feel like nobody will believe them.”
They said Chambers had sex with the women out of view of surveillance cameras.
“Is it a coincidence that the cameras didn’t record anything? No, it’s not,” James said. “It’s not a coincidence. This was planned by a corrections officer who works at MDC. Why would he commit a crime in plain view?”
One of the women had testified that she had had consensual sex with Chambers in a staff bathroom.
But James reminded jurors that testimony by another MDC sergeant indicated it is against the law for a corrections officer to have sex with an inmate. She added that inmates can’t consent to sex.
“An inmate in custody cannot consent,” she said. “They cannot say no. What happens if they say no? That’s what causes their fear. That’s what causes them not to report right away.”
James and Callaway declined to comment after the verdict was read. Cooley said he was pleased with the outcome.
“This case has dragged on since Dec. 21, 2010,” he said. “That poor man has had that over his head for all those years.”
Chambers remains on staff at MDC as a sergeant but is not allowed contact with female inmates.