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SUNNY Temp: 65 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Friday, June 28, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Cyberchef E The People Golf Job Network Headbone Zone Wellness Connection Movie Times Newspaper in Education Oregon CarZone Outdoor Journal Personals Prime Times Real Estate Tempo A & E TV Times W3 Magazine CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Destinations Automotive Communities Employment Entertainment Publications Real Estate Recreation Shopping Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Jobs @ Mail Tribune Email Story to a Friend June 11, 2002 William Henry Allen Jr. walks away from the Jackson County Jail Monday after a jury acquitted him of murder in a retrial following a conviction on the same charge in January. Click the photo to see a larger (35k) version; use your Back button to return to the story. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Allen acquitted The victim’s family is aghast after the retrial verdict in the 21-year-old murder By DANI DODGE Mail Tribune William Henry Allen Jr. walked out of jail a free man Monday afternoon, the clothes he wore during his trial slung over his shoulder. Just six months ago, he had been found guilty of raping and murdering 17-year-old Evelyn Marie Smith in 1981. But Monday in a retrial, Allen, 37, was acquitted. He said he felt "great." After Smith’s family heard the verdict, they broke down in tears. Several of Smith’s sisters and nieces slumped against walls in the courthouse and then collapsed to the floor. "He’s guilty. We know he’s guilty," said Pamela Marchbanks, Smith’s sister. "Everyone knows he’s guilty." Her brother Ron Sohnrey put his head against a wall and cried. "This is ludicrous," Sohnrey said. "If (that jury) actually thinks someone else came in the stadium that night and killed her — they are morons." Twenty-one years ago, Smith was a 17-year-old Medford teen, the youngest girl of 11 siblings, who played softball with her family. She went to downtown Medford on a Saturday night to hang out with other kids when she met Allen. The 16-year-old — freshly paroled from the state’s toughest juvenile detention center — invited Smith to party with him and she piled into Allen’s friend’s yellow Pinto. Although Smith asked the friend to take her home, he said he didn’t have enough gas and dropped the couple off at the baseball stadium at Medford Mid-High, which is now South Medford High School. The next day, Smith’s nude and bruised body was found in a tunnel leading to the football stadium. She had been strangled. There was evidence she had had sex. Police quickly zeroed in on Allen as a suspect. Not only did he have a criminal record that included arson and car theft, but he was the last person known to be seen with her. But Allen said he simply left Smith on second base of the baseball diamond after they had kissed a little. He denied they had had sex. No physical evidence connected him to the murder. Less than five weeks after the murder, Allen held a razor blade between the legs of a 16-year-old girl and forced her to drive around Medford. The girl escaped and Allen stole her car. He was captured in Redding, Calif. After being tried as an adult, he served six years of his 20-year sentence. Smith moved to California, where he married and became a union steelworker. He lives in Antioch, Calif. Then, in 2001, DNA testing advanced to a point that scientists could determine Allen had had sex with Smith before her death. He was arrested on the 20th anniversary of her death. In January, Allen was tried on three different charges of murder related to the case. He was acquitted of two that would have required a finding that he killed Smith intentionally. He was found guilty of felony murder, which meant he killed her in the course of raping her. In that trial, Allen took the stand in his own defense, denying he killed Smith and claiming they had consensual sex in the dugout of the baseball stadium. Deputy District Attorney Beth Heckert brought in a rebuttal witness who testified that in 1981 the dugouts were locked and inaccessible to teenage thrill seekers. That witness brought a photo. After deliberating about a day and a half, the jury unanimously found Allen guilty. Defense attorney David Orf, though, questioned whether the photo accurately represented the way the dugouts looked in 1981, and whether they were actually inaccessible. Because Orf hadn’t had time to research the photo before it was presented as evidence, Jackson County Circuit Judge Patricia Crain threw out the verdict. The second trial started June 4. This time Allen didn’t testify. Witnesses gave conflicting testimony about whether the dugouts were inaccessible. Orf argued that the police work in the case was flawed, there was no evidence of forcible rape, and someone else must have killed Smith after Allen left her. The jury deliberated less than three hours before finding Allen "not guilty" by a 10-2 vote. One juror declined comment. Attempts to reach others were unsuccessful. Dana Porter, a juror in the first trial, sat through most of the second. He was stunned. "I think it was the O.J. Simpson trial of the Rogue Valley and I think I’ll lock my doors a little tighter," Porter said. "I will go to my grave knowing he was guilty as I’m sure he will, too." Porter said in this trial, Orf made his points aggressively and effectively and Heckert didn’t. And without Allen’s testimony, her case was weaker. Allen was so inconsistent when he took the stand in the first trial, even his own attorney called him a liar during closing arguments. Porter said he’s lost faith in the justice system. "I doubt I’d ever do jury duty again," Porter said. "We all knew he was guilty, yet one photo not submitted into evidence properly and the guy is on his way home? That photo had nothing to do with us convicting him. "How would you feel about that?" Orf said he believes the second jury had a hard time buying the rape charge. The jury had to agree Allen committed rape before they could consider whether he killed her. But there was no damage to Smith’s vagina, although Heckert had argued the bruises on Smith’s back indicated rape. "When the defendant does not take the stand, the jury is forced to look at the facts, more than the defendant’s testimony," Orf said. "This verdict would indicate some doubt that forcible rape occurred." When asked if he thought Allen was innocent of the murder charge, Orf replied: "These things are tested in the courtroom with chances for both sides to bring evidence. Then the jury decides." Just before he was released, Allen told another inmate that after 14 months in jail, he couldn’t wait to smoke a cigarette. Allen declined comment to the press except to say he was relieved and would go back home to California. Allen’s mother, Patricia Masterson, picked Allen up from outside the jail in a gray Camry, and they drove away Monday afternoon. District Attorney Mark Huddleston said it was deeply disappointing to lose the case — doubly disappointing because they won the first time. "The decision doesn’t say he didn’t do it," Huddleston said. "It says we didn’t present enough evidence to show he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt." Huddleston admitted his office had made a grave mistake in the first trial. "Had the photograph been turned into the defense as soon as we were aware of this, we wouldn’t have had a retrial," Huddleston said. "But, we didn’t know he would testify and that he would say he was in the dugout. To the extent it was a mistake ... you learn from it and go on." Since he’s been tried and acquitted, Allen cannot be charged with Smith’s murder again. Huddleston said the Evelyn Marie Smith murder case is closed. "There are no other suspects in the case," Huddleston said. "There’s nothing more the state can do." Smith’s family, though — completely convinced of Allen’s guilt — said he isn’t off the hook. "When he dies, he will face his God," Marchbanks said. "And God will punish him in the end." Reach reporter Dani Dodge at 776-4471, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S