Studdard found guilty of statutory sodomy of a child

On Oct. 20, a 12-person jury consisting of nine women and three men found Wasola resident Jerry Studdard guilty of two counts of statutory sodomy of a child in the first degree for subjecting a female victim to deviate sexual intercourse by touching her genitalia in 2007 when she was 11, and again in 2008 when she was 12. 

He will be required to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life. 

Studdard was released on his existing bond with the condition that he’s supervised by Court Probationary Services until his sentencing hearing, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 22, at the Ozark County Courthouse. 

Trial details

Circuit Judge Craig Carter presided over the trial. Ozark County Prosecuting Attorney John Garrabrant served as the prosecutor, and Stuart Paul Huffman of Springfield was Studdard’s defense attorney.

Jury selection was held Monday, Oct. 18, at the Gainesville Church of Christ on Highway 160 to allow the potential jurors to social distance for covid awareness as much as possible. Before the pandemic, jury selection was traditionally held in the upstairs courtroom in the courthouse. 

The jury was picked, and the trial began that day. The state called five witnesses to the stand during the three-day process. Closing statements were made Wednesday, Oct. 20, and the jury was left to deliberate.

Online court records show that the jury requested the depositions, court transcripts and photographs to be provided as they deliberated. They asked two questions: “When and why was DFS involved?” and “Where are the younger kids?” The court directed the jury that the verdict must be guided from recollection of evidence and deliberation at the trial. 

The jury reached a unanimous guilty verdict in two hours. 

Sentencing

Studdard requested jury sentencing, an uncommon process in which the jury makes a recommendation to the judge of what sentence should be imposed. Most trials usually include judge sentencing. 

After finding Studdard guilty of the two counts, the jury took 15 minutes to make a recommendation on punishment.

The jury recommended a 10-year prison sentence on the first count and a five-year prison sentence on the second count. Both are the lowest possible sentences available for the convictions. The two charges have a possible range of punishment of up to life imprisonment

It is thought that the lower sentences were recommended due to Studdard’s lack of criminal record and the amount of time that had passed since the incidents occurred. 

Carter ordered a sentencing assessment report, which will be compiled by the Department of Probation and Parole. The report provides judges and others involved with sentencing and corrections useful information about the offender, the offender’s risk of re-offending, and treatment programs and supervision options available in the community and in prison.

Carter cannot legally impose a sentence that is higher than the jury recommendation. Judges can sometimes impose a lower sentence, but because the jury recommended the lowest possible sentence in these cases, it is unlikely that the 10- and five-year sentences will change. 

However, Carter can give probation terms and say whether the two sentences will run concurrently, meaning at the same time, for a total of 10 years, or if they will run consecutively, one after another, for a total of 15 years. 

Covid-aware trial

The trial, one of only a handful that has been held in Ozark County since the pandemic began, was complicated by the court’s procedures to ensure a covid-aware trial process. 

“Trying cases in the age of covid is extremely difficult for the judge, the prosecutor, the defendant, attorneys, circuit clerk, security officers from the sheriff’s department. It’s hard,” Garrabrant told the Times after the trial. “I think in particular both Circuit Clerk Becki Strong and Sheriff Cass Martin, who provided security at the trial and the church – those guys worked very hard and did a nice job for us,” he said.

Garrabrant said the trial was held in the upstairs courtroom in the Ozark County courthouse, and, instead of sitting in the jurors box, the jury was spaced around the gallery where court observers usually are seated. 

The upstairs level of the courthouse was closed to the public. To ensure that the trial was still a public trial, it was livestreamed online. 

During deliberation, the jury was transferred to an office on the east side of the Gainesville square where there was more room to space out than in the traditional jury room.