Jury finds Casper man not guilty of first-degree sexual assault, undecided on lesser count

CASPER, Wyo. — A Natrona County jury found a Casper man not guilty of first-degree sexual assault stemming from allegations that he raped a woman in his home last February. The jury could not reach a verdict on the second count of sexual assault in the second degree. According to defense attorney Christina Cherni, the state has 10 days to decide if it will refile those charges.

Marcus Dean Grayson, 40, was charged in May and went to trial in the court of Judge Josh Eames this week. Closing arguments took place Wednesday morning and the jury delivered a verdict shortly before 6 p.m.

The woman, Amber Ferre, testified that she gave Grayson a ride to Auto Zone on Feb. 26, 2024, while Grayson was working on his car. She said that they went back to his home in west Casper that afternoon and smoked methamphetamine in his basement. She said that she refused his advances and that he forced himself on her, got her clothes off and forced her to submit to intercourse.

Grayson insisted the sex was consensual. No other circumstances were in dispute.  Grayson did not testify, and Judge Eames reminded the jury that they were to draw no inferences from it as it is every defendant’s Constitutional right and the burden is on the state to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

State prosecutor Brandon Rosty reminded the jury during closing arguments of text messages between Grayson and the woman shortly after she left his house. Grayson had texted “are u really coming back?” to which she responded, “U should listen when I said no the million times I said no.”

Grayson’s text thread in response included: “I’m freaking out right now like I did something wrong” and “I’m pretty sure I just ruined my life.” 

Rosty said the texts, several of which Grayson had deleted, were evidence of Grayson’s guilty conscience. Cherni said Grayson had been warned by friends that the woman might try to extort him and that Grayson was referring to that when he told investigators “I put myself in that position.”

Later on Feb. 26, Grayson received a text through the woman’s phone, apparently from her friend, saying “Send her money on CashApp or this goes public.” Grayson got another text from an unknown number saying “that was messed up what you did. If you send me money on Venmo I won’t tell.”

Later in the afternoon on the day of the alleged assault, two of the woman’s friends appeared at Grayson’s door, which was captured on the doorbell footage. There was no doorbell footage of Grayson and the woman coming to the house that day, but the investigation revealed nothing had been deleted, according to trial testimony.  

During closing arguments, Cherni also pointed out that the five missed calls in 44 seconds on the woman’s phone during the alleged assault indicated that she had declined them and was not in distress.

It is the editorial practice of Oil City News to keep adult victims anonymous throughout the proceedings unless and until they testify against the accused during trial.

Oil City News was not present for every stage of the trial, and this article should not be construed as a comprehensive reflection of all the testimony and evidence considered by the jury.