A six-member jury has found a man
charged with soliciting for gay sex in an Anderson, South Carolina
park not guilty, NBC affiliate WYFF reported.
Gary Burgess was found not guilty of
soliciting for immoral purposes.
Defense attorney Fletcher Smith came
close to calling the arrest police harassment: “Basically, the jury
has spoken and said that you cannot have a law in your city that
targets any specific group of people.”
Burgess, who ministers at the Universal
Body of Christ Church and is a former superintendent of Anderson
School District 4, was arrested on April 29 in Darwin Wright Park,
the 27 acre park that includes a nine hole disc golf course and a
swimming beach on the shores of Lake Hartwell.
Officer L.B. Culbertson testified that
Burgess rubbed his leg as the men spoke and lifted his shorts,
exposing the head of his penis. Burgess asked if the officer “liked
oral” and whether he was “good at it,” then suggested the
officer join him in his van, Culbertson said.
Smith argued that none of the events
that occurred were illegal.
“Is it illegal to rub your leg? Is
it illegal for two men to have a conversation about sexual activity?”
Smith asked the jury, which consisted of five women and one man.
Burgess, 51, testified he was in the
park to eat his lunch, something he did often. He said the officer
initiated the conversation and when it turned sexual he attempted to
leave.
“I got up to move away. As I was
standing there, he flashed some kind of credentials, then he grabbed
my left hand,” Burgess said. “He turned me around, handcuffed me
and pushed me up against a tree. From that point, he began to frisk
me.”
Smith told jurors that Burgess admits
to being at the park in April, having a sexual conversation with the
officer and to being aroused by the incident. Still, he suggested
the claim that Burgess flashed his penis was manufactured.
“When they did their incident report
during the arrest, they had nothing of the illegal language – no
mention of an exposed penis in the report. We will prove that they
charge you in this community and make their stories up later,” he
told the jury.
Burgess, who attended the one day trial
with his wife Mary at his side, was set free after jurors deliberated
for under 25 minutes.