RINGGOLD, Ga. — Tonya Craft's fate is now in the hands of the jury.
Catoosa County Superior Court Judge Brian House finished his instructions about 1:30 p.m. today, then broke for lunch. The jury will start its deliberations when it returns.
Attorneys laid out their final arguments today in the 21-day child molestation trial against the Chickamauga, Ga., elementary school teacher.
Prosecutors, seeking to convict Ms. Craft on 22 counts of various child molestation offenses, said jurors should vote to convict because there are too many similarities between the claims of three young girls who accuse Ms. Craft of misconduct.
“There is plenty of evidence to prove this defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” prosecutor Len Gregor said.
He said the explanations for the accusations offered by the defense amount to “conspiracy theories.” He presented jurors with 11 “Tonya Truths” that seek to explain away the charges.
“If this a conspiracy, if this is about lies, if this is about people ... who wanted to get Tonya Craft, don’t you think they could have come up with bigger, better lies?” Mr. Gregor asked. “Don’t you think some of these people would say ‘I saw her do it.’ Why didn’t someone come up and say ‘she confessed?’”
Defense attorney Demosthenes Lorandos in his closing said the children falsely believe they were molested because of constant suggestions by their parents.
“Because they didn’t know how to interview their kids properly, they asked lots of questions,” Dr. Lorandos said.
After the parents suggested that Ms. Craft touched them improperly, the children started to believe it, Dr. Lorandos argued.
He pleaded with jurors to search their hearts for the truth.
“This isn’t about Tonya’s Truth or a conspiracy truth. It’s about the most essential truth,” Dr. Lorandos said. “Here we are, men and women, trying to deal with a terrible thing that’s happened. We’ve got to find the basic truth the best we can.”
Both the defense and the prosecution were allowed 90 minutes each for their closing.
Adam Crisp covers education issues for the Times Free Press. He joined the paper's staff in 2007 and initially covered crime, public safety, courts and general assignment topics. Prior to Chattanooga, Crisp was a crime reporter at the Savannah Morning News and has been a reporter and editor at community newspapers in southeast Georgia. In college, he led his student paper to a first-place general excellence award from the Georgia College Press Association. He earned ...
If you want to see another case that developed the same way, google "McMartin Preschool Abuse Trial" and see what something like this can turn into. That case, like this one, had all the earmarks of a set-up. The defendants suffered through a 3-year investigation, then a 3-year trial, at the end of which nobody was convicted, and lives were ruined. Like the present case, the McMartin affair involved the abuse of children, not by the accused teachers, but by so-called psychological "investigators" whose tactics suggested the answers the children gave them, thinking they were saying what they were supposed to say. It made all the papers for over 6 years, ending 20 years ago. Now, in a limited way, Catoosa County, its Prosecutor and Court are taking our whole community, and the nation, through another episode of the same kind of hydrophobia. Will we ever learn? Doesn't seem likely.
Tonya craft is GUilty!!!! I dont see how a jury will find this child molester innocent, She Molested 3 young girls...I think the jury will believe the 3 girls testimony and put this evil person in jail and throw away the Key...She also wont be liked in Jail with most women in jail has kids...But Tonya will get what she deserves to rot in jail...
I agree with the first comment. This case has all the earmarks of a "setup". I lived near where the McMartin trial took place, at first everyone was outraged, then as the "facts" came out people started to question the claims. How did this "suspected" child molester survive for so many years without detection. Strange how this all came about after Ms. Craft turned the parents in for child abuse. I've learned you don't go around saying things you have no direct knowledge of. Even more strange was how the most important part of the accusations were never filmed or documented in any way.
Also strange was the fact that the judge in the case is the same attorney who represented her ex-husband in their divorce case. Seems like that conflict of interest alone (and note that he has repeatedly ruled in favor of the prosecution during the trial) ought to be reason why he should have recused himself from the case, and should provide plenty of ammunition for appeal in the event the jury loses its collective mind and convicts this poor woman.
Justice in this case is surely not blind, but apparently deaf and certainly very dumb (as in stupid).
The Law has been molested by the judge and prosecution in this case.
The witnesses for the defense were the real experts. The witnesses for the prosecution should be unemployed. People that slept in a Holiday Inn Express would be more qualified.
Seems like BOOBOO is out of touch with justice and reality.
I guess guilty until proven innocent is the norm now. That's quite sad.
Lets pray that these 3 girls get JUSTICE!!! Tonya craft gaves these girls a LIFE sentence of memories, Everybody here feels sorry for Tonya the pedophile But you should be thinking about the 3 young girls who got brutally molested by this woman..Tonya will get her payback in jail. GOD BLESS!
The parents of these girls gave them a life sentence!
So...in his instructions to the jury, how many of Defense's arguments did good ole boy "Da Judge" House instruct the jury to disregard?
If there is any case for Jury Nullification, this is it.
To paraphrase from King Kong, "T'was Judge House who killed the Innocent". It was the so-called "Child Advocacy" investigators [by whatever name] who sentenced the children to a life of miserable memories by convincing them of truth in lies.
We desperately need to cleanse ourselves of those who truly prey on children -- the Social Actions/Child Advocates. Cleanse ourselves and start over.
BOOB BOOB shut up, your an idiot and prove it with every post. Ya gotta be in bed with the judge or DA, ya can't be smart enuf to have a rational thought.
This entire trial is an utter travesty, farse, and complete insult to the american judicial system, the very system that these prosecutorial nitwits are supposed to uphold with the highest honor and respect.
The corrupt and arrogant tag-team of the prosecution is so deep in bed with Judge House, Im surprised the State hasn't stepped in to put a halt to this corrupt mess.
observing and hearing the very unprofessional demeanor and acitons coming from the prosecution day after day, are grounds enough for dubbing a mis-trial.
It is all to easy, when the term "child-molester" comes across the news for a split second, to instantly stand up in disgust and fully advocate the prosecution's "case" and for, "sending her away to jail forever and lock the key!"
But when the facts and obvious skewness in trial come into play... it could just as easily be ANYONE who pissed off the "desperate housewives of catoosa county" (Yes, Mr. Joal Henke you fall under that category too).
Mark my words: This 'trial' will not end with the decision of the jury in catoosa county. And as for the actions of the prosecution, they will answer to a higher power in due time.
booboo99: As a "white man born in TN" if you were accused of raping a child, would you expect the prosecution would need evidence to indict you on this charge?
Would you expect the detective to investigate the allegations before you could be indicted?
Could you be indicted on a rape charge even if the alleged victim never said she was raped?
You could prove you were out of the city, state, and country at the time of the alleged crime, should you still be indicted?
Proof shows the crime never happened at any time, by anyone, should you be sentenced to prison for 25 years?
The jurors admit they could not hear half of what was being said during the trial, is it justice if they convict you?
Just curious.
I would like to see the faces and hear the grammer of the girls parents. Little girls are known for lying. Little Brittny Spears and Madonna wannabes. Confiscate the kids teen magazines, hardrives, movies and see what Premium channels their parents subscribe to. I can hear the parents now: I'll get you my pretty, and your nice little teaching job too!
This case has been one that sounds like something from Law & Order or CSI. I really can't believe that the judge and prosecution are really walking around like their crap doesn't stink and think they can do whatever they want because they are the authority in this matter. And what is up with the parents of these littler girls? Saying they are very influential families in Ringold is like saying they are the smartest contestants in the special olympics. What they are putting these kids through is child abuse.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Now BOOBOO99 I have something for you. Your comments really make me laugh and provide some comic relief on this topic. You seem to be the kind that believes everything you hear. Just because someone is accused of something does not mean they actually did it. That's why we have a judicial system that allows us to determine the guilty from the innocent. That's why they say "all suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law" in the intro to your favorite show, COPS. So I'm going to give you an example. I'm going to accuse BOOBOO99 of making moonshine and holding illegal dog and cock fights in his backyard. Then I'll get 30 other people who don't know you to say the same thing. So because so many people have all said the same thing it must be true and you should rot in jail and not be given a chance to defend yourself. Oh, and I also heard BOOBOO99 is an illegal alien who makes meth to give to elderly people in the local nursing home. Who else can say they saw the same thing? I wonder if the DA would be willing to take that case? LOL
Yes your right jayhay182: I just witnessed BOOBOO99 making a meth drop at the nursing home. My poor grandmother is now in rehab for this. I wonder how many more witnesses we will need before we can get a conviction... I'm sure we all have plenty of friends.
The original investigation and case seemed to be flawed from the start. None of us really know what did or did not happen other than that the children involved and the defendant. Based upon the evidence that has been released to the public, presents a lot of doubt. This doubt is not to be taken nor treated lightly. Everyone loses / or has lost in this situation. If qualified investigators and "interviewers" had dealt with this situation in the beginning, or at the very least, would have been brought at the very least, we could probably get to the truth. This is a textbook case of incompetence.
All very sad and tragic. No one will win here. A teacher's career will be destroyed regardless of the outcome and three little girls will grow up with emotional scars from, if nothing else, the legal process, the questioning and confusion of trying to figure out "what do they want me to say?" I dare say that we will never know the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So help us God.
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