"MORGAN HILL - A jury fully acquitted a San Jose nonprofit director of sex abuse charges alleging he molested two girls when he was a youth pastor at a San Jose church, concluding a dramatic trial that saw him fight back by framing the allegations as a conspiracy by his accusers' families to land a multi-million dollar legal settlement. The verdict, handed down late Wednesday evening in the Morgan Hill courtroom of Judge Stuart Scott, exonerated 49-year-old Brett Bymaster of 10 felony sexual abuse charges."
"Earlier in the afternoon, jurors signaled to Scott that they had agreed to acquit on one count but had fallen just short of unanimity, 11 to 1, on the rest. Scott and the jury had been scheduling additional deliberations for Thursday and Friday, and the installation of an alternate juror on account of one juror having prescheduled travel. During those discussions, Scott noted that the deliberations on the remaining counts would need to start over because of the juror swap."
A jury in Morgan Hill acquitted 49-year-old Brett Bymaster of 10 felony sexual abuse charges alleging he molested two sisters while serving as a youth pastor at The River church in San Jose between 2013 and 2019. Jurors initially reported an 11–1 split on most counts and judges discussed additional deliberations and installing an alternate juror due to prescheduled travel. After briefly leaving the courtroom, the jury reconvened, voted again, and returned unanimous not guilty verdicts on the remaining counts. Bymaster characterized the allegations as a conspiracy seeking a multimillion-dollar settlement and issued a statement of gratitude.
Read at The Mercury News
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