A Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman who was accused of rape and kidnapping was discovered not responsible on Friday by a jury in Guernsey County, Ohio.
The lineman, Joshua Sills, 25, was indicted in February on first-degree felony counts of kidnapping and rape stemming from an episode in December 2019, when, prosecutors stated, Sills allegedly “engaged in sexual activity that was not consensual and held a victim against her will.”
The jury reached its resolution after a trial that started on Tuesday. The case was introduced by prosecutors from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.
“Thank you for everything you have done,” Sills stated, addressing the jury within the courthouse on Friday in a trial that was televised.
Michael Connick, a lawyer for Sills, stated on Friday that the acquittal ended a “four-year nightmare for the Sills family.”
The Ohio legal professional common, Dave Yost, stated in an announcement on Friday that “I still believe the victim.”
“But in America, criminal convictions require proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” Yost stated. “The jury did not see it, and I thank them for doing their duty under the law.”
The trial included testimony from Brooke Bing, a buddy of the girl who accused Sills, who recalled being out at a bar one evening with a bunch that included Sills.
After the evening out, Bing stated she talked to the girl who accused Sills, who informed her that, “Josh raped her,” referring to Sills.
“She tried hard to fight back,” Bing stated. “She showed me the marks from where his hands were holding her down.”
After the indictment in early February, Sills was issued a summons to look in court docket on Feb. 16, 4 days after the Eagles had been scheduled to play the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Ariz.
Sills was signed by the Eagles in 2022 as an undrafted free agent. As of Friday afternoon, he was listed on the N.F.L. commissioner’s exempt record, which means he couldn’t play with the workforce.
It was not instantly clear on Friday if Sills would play after his acquittal. Executives within the entrance workplace for the Philadelphia Eagles didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Sills, an offensive guard, appeared briefly in a single recreation on particular groups for the Eagles in 2022.
He spent the primary 4 years of his faculty soccer profession at West Virginia University earlier than transferring to Oklahoma State University.
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