Jury finds Randall guilty of assault

A Donley County jury convicted Michael Randall of the second degree felony offense of sexual assault of a child last Thursday, July 15, and sentenced him to 13 years in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Randall, a 22-year-old Clarendon resident, was arrested for the offense of burglary of a habitation with intent to commit a sexual assault on May 29, 2009.  The Donley County Sheriff’s Office earlier that day had received a report that a man had forced his way into an apartment on Rosenfield Street and assaulted a 15-year-old girl.

Randall was indicted by a Donley County Grand Jury on June 22, 2009, for three different felony counts that occurred on May 29, 2009. 

The trial began last Tuesday morning with jury selection taking most of the day.  At four o’clock, District Attorney Luke Inman presented the opening for the State to the 12-member jury of Donley County residents.

Late Tuesday afternoon, the State called its first witness, the victim to the sexual assault, which had occurred on the last day of school for Clarendon ISD in 2009.

“It takes great courage to get up before your attacker, your family, members of the court and 12 complete strangers and tell them all about the horrific events that you  just want to forget,” said Inman.  “Our victim is a courageous young person and made this guilty conviction possible.”

After the victim testified on Tuesday afternoon, the court recessed. 

On Wednesday morning, the State continued its case by calling five more witnesses.  State’s witnesses included Virginia Young, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner, Sheriff Charles “Butch” Blackburn and Chief Deputy Randy Bond. 

The Donley County Jury deliberated on Thursday morning before returning their verdict of guilty to the lesser included offense of sexual assault of a child. 

“Like always, the Donley County Sheriff’s Office did an excellent investigation and provided this office with all the information to proceed in this very serious trial.”  Inman said.  “Sheriff Blackburn and his deputies, along with the SANE nurses in Amarillo, place high importance on offenses involving children and they cannot be commended enough for the outstanding work they all do.”

Sheriff Blackburn commended Inman’s efforts to convict Randall.

“I appreciate the hard work the DA’s office put into this case,” Blackburn said. “He worked closely with us, and the end result was we sent a rapist to prison.”

Randall was also assessed a $3,000 fine by the Donley County Jury. Randall has four felony counts still pending in District Court. This trial was continued two previous times due to the defendant’s requests.