Sexual assault charges dropped as judge cites ‘double jeopardy’ issue

CASPER, Wyo.  — A sexual assault charge for a Casper man has been dismissed. Natrona County District Court Judge Josh Eames said the state’s plan to retry him on the same facts after a split verdict last year presented “obvious” double jeopardy issues, according to a filing by prosecutor Brandon Rosty.

Marcus Dean Grayson was charged last summer with first-degree sexual assault and second-degree sexual assault; two alternative charging theories based on the allegations in the woman’s testimony.

A jury found Grayson not guilty on the first-degree charge and could not reach a decision on the lesser charge at a trial last December. Rosty wrote that the state had interpreted case law around the double jeopardy issue differently than the court as pursued the second trial Feb. 24.

The law, derived from the Fifth Amendment and applicable to all states, says that a person cannot generally be tried again for the same or similar offenses after an acquittal.

This information was contained in a motion filed by Rosty to reconsider a sanction by Eames ordering both him and the defense council to pay the cost of assembling the jury Monday morning.

The state’s trial evidence consisted almost entirely of the woman’s testimony and frantic, apologetic texts sent by Grayson after the encounter, which Grayson claimed was consensual.

During closing arguments, defense attorney Christini Cherni told the jury 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.