Jury foreman in teacher rape case: 'We couldn't throw this guy's life away'

[TexasTowelie]

TWIN FALLS — Twelve jurors unanimously found Jason Benjamin not guilty of rape Wednesday afternoon, despite the former teacher’s admission that he knowingly had sex with an underage girl.

Benjamin, who taught at Canyon Ridge High School from 2009 until 2017, was arrested in December after a 17-year-old former student told police she and Benjamin had sex in October, a claim Benjamin confirmed in police interviews. He was charged with rape under a statute that applies when the victim is 16 or 17 years old and the perpetrator is at least three years older.

Benjamin, now 40, was 39 years old at the time of the alleged sexual encounter.

The jury trial, which began and ended Wednesday, included a video of Benjamin telling a police detective that he had sex with the girl and that he knew she was 17 at the time. After about two hours of deliberation, the jury delivered its verdict: not guilty.

Read more: https://magicvalley.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/update-twin-falls-teacher-found-not-guilty-of-raping-former/article_1473276f-7252-5ba8-babc-ffcbd47cc6c5.html#tracking-source=home-breaking

[2naSalit]

1. In Idaho there's no such things as

rape, separation of church and state or rights for anyone who isn't a male member of a certain religious cult that dominates the state.

[TexasTowelie]

2. I'm curious as to the religious affiliation of the teacher

and whether it may have affected the reasoning of the jury. This appears to be one of those laws that are on the books to be applied on a case-by-case basis.

[2naSalit]

7. Chances are that if they has

a job in that state, especially as a state employee, about 95% that he is a card carrying member, he would have been run out of the state if he had done this and been caught. I think he admitted it because he knew nothing would happen.

[lapfog_1]

3. I taught college for 4 years

I was barely older (and in some cases not older at all) than my students...

I even had at least a few girls try to flirt with me (for the hope of getting better grades perhaps... or at least more attention and help from me than I gave my other students).

I even had one girl literally make an indecent proposal ("A" for a lay was the term used back then).

As a nerd in college without a lot of dates... and given no possibility of a "rape" charge... it was tempting. But I would not violate teacher-student behavior norms and school regulations.

I really do not understand how these 30 and 40 year old teachers who prey on 16 or 17 year old children...

I don't care if it ruins his life... he f'ing chose this profession and put himself in that classroom. There is no excuse.

[mr_lebowski]

4. Prosecutors should've charged him with Statutory, then, it sounds like ...

I mean, scenarios like this are kinda why the term 'statutory' ... exists.

This is presuming that the young lady confirmed that this was consensual (which seems like a given here), ergo ... a charge of outright 'rape', when she is old enough to consent to sex in the general sense (i.e. nobody questions two 17 year olds having sex with each other) ... was taking things further than the jury was comfortable with.

Assuming my presumption is correct, this doesn't seem entirely unreasonable.

Just MHO. I'm sure it won't be popular ...

[Snake Plissken]

5. Mr Benjamin had the luxury of a jury deciding his fate

Whereas Al Franken was simply thrown under the bus by the people he fought the hardest for, without even an investigation.

[Siwsan]

6. My first experience on a jury was a real eye opener

It was a murder case and I was the foreperson. The first thing I did was ask for an initial vote. The judge had just given us very explicit instructions so they should have been fresh in everyone's mind.

Things went well until the last voter spoke. Her vote was for 2nd degree murder so I asked her, as I did everyone else, how she came to that conclusion. And she actually said "Because the 2nd shot was the one that killed her." I blinked a few times and then asked "So, if he had shot her just once, it would be 1st degree murder?" She nodded. "And if he shot her 3 times, and it was the 3rd shot that killed her, would you think it was manslaughter?" Again her answer was a solid "Yes!"

I ended up on 3 murder juries during that commitment, and also heard the 'I don't want to ruin this young man's life' rationalization during the 2nd deliberation. My question to that person is would they feel comfortable with that person as a neighbor? After some thought that juror changed his mind.