Attorneys presented closing
arguments Thursday in the trial of a retired police officer accused of raping a
child.
Willie Toney is charged with
one count of rape first degree and two counts each of sodomy first degree and
enticing a child to enter a vehicle, house, etc. for immoral purposes in
conjunction with a pair of incidents that took place in early 2008. He was
formally charged in August 2012.
The defense presented most of
its witnesses Thursday, before resting the case shortly before 4 p.m. The list
included former Mayor Jimmy Lunsford and current Troy Police Chief Jimmy Ennis.
Ennis was one of the
investigators called upon by then-Chief of Police Anthony Everage to conduct an
internal investigation in 2009.
“We included in our
investigation that it could not have happened the way it as described on
tapes,” Ennis said. “I don’t believe Mr. Toney did it.”
He did say he believed someone
had sexually abused the victim. When the prosecution asked why Troy PD had not
investigated the crime to find the guilty party, Ennis said it was not Troy’s
case. The Alabama Bureau of Investigations was investigating the matter.
Stephanie Billingslea,
assistant Attorney General, started the prosecution’s closing arguments by sharing
a first-person narrative that summed up what the victim had said since coming
forward, including the detailed account of the crimes. Except for some minor
details, [the victim’s] story has been consistent for six years, the prosecutor
said.
The closing listed what the
prosecution had to prove in order to convict Willie Toney of rape first degree:
he had to be over the age of 16 and had to engage in a sexual act with someone
under age 12. Billingslea called the Troy Police Department a “band of brothers
who went through great lengths to protect their brother. That’s not the purpose
of an internal investigation. What the Troy Police Department did is a
travesty. It’s disgraceful.”
The defense argued that one of
the medical exams used as evidence was done in August, 2008, more than five
months after the crime. Another issue taken with the state’s case was its
unwillingness to turn over a jacket the victim had worn the day of one of the
alleged rapes.
The defense then listed what it
described as the lies the victim told during interviews conducted by the Child
Advocacy Center. “You have to decide who is credible,” said defense attorney
Lewis Gillis.
Gillis told the jury that if
there were any doubt in their minds, they would have to return a verdict of not
guilty.
Arguments lasted past 7 p.m.
and the jury opted to start deliberating Thursday night rather than wait until
after the holiday weekend.