A jury deliberated for about one hour before acquitting Cedar City police detective Kelvin Orton of rape.
Orton was released following the verdict Thursday evening. Other than saying his feelings were "indescribable," he had no comment. Cedar City Police Chief Pete Hansen, who wiped away a few tears when the verdict was announced, said Orton will return to active duty.Davis County Attorney Mel Wilson, who prosecuted the case, said he was disappointed by the outcome but accepted the jury's decision.
"It was an extremely difficult case to try," he said.
In closing arguments, defense attorney Ron Yengich questioned why the woman waited two years to report the alleged rape. He said she knew how to fill out a police report and was acquainted with several officers in the area, yet she still waited.
"They're only as good as their facts and their facts don't exist in this case," Yengich said of the prosecution. He also urged jurors to "dust off your common sense, shake it out and bring it into the courtroom."
He noted testimony that a couple of weeks after the purported rape, the alleged victim told a co-worker that Orton was good looking and had "a cute butt," and that she invited Orton to her wedding.
"Would you invite a rapist to your wedding?" Yengich said to the jury.
Deputy Davis County Attorney Bill McGuire, who delivered closing arguments for the prosecution, told jurors the truth was evident in the details provided by the alleged victim.
"That detail itself is a show of the veracity of her statement," he said, adding that her delay in reporting was understandable since the man she accused was a police officer. "What does she have to gain from this?"
During testimony Thursday morning, Orton denied raping the woman. He also said he did not have sex with her but acknowledged talking about it.
Orton was accused of raping the former Kanarraville woman at her home on Dec. 26, 1992.
Yengich argued that three men with an ax to grind against Orton may have persuaded the woman to file the rape charge to destroy the detective's credibility.
He said Kent Winnward, a Cedar City attorney, David Keller, a businessman in the city, and Orton's former partner - now married to the alleged victim - all had reason to discredit Orton.
Winnward and Keller were the subjects of criminal investigations conducted by Orton.