NewsPalm Beach CountyRegion C Palm Beach CountyWest Palm Beach

Actions

No verdict Thursday in Uber driver rape trial

Posted at 7:11 PM, Mar 15, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-15 19:11:16-04

The jury in the trial of the Uber driver accused of rape will return Friday to deliberate.

They spent four hours trying to reach a verdict Thursday.

Gary Kitchings is accused of sexually assaulting a passenger he drove home from SunFest last year.

The panel of 6 jurors began their deliberations around 1 p.m. Thursday.

They heard testimony from the accuser who testified that Kitchings assaulted her In both the car and then at her house and threatened her with a gun.

Kitchings took the stand in his own defense and said that the sexual encounter was consensual.

" This was the worst night of her life this was not the defendant's conquest this was a horrible nightmare and that is her truth and that what is proven," the state said.

"You see the devil is always in the details; the story shouldn’t just be believed because it shocks us right? We shouldn’t just buy things at face value we just take it as is,” the defense argued.

The jury will return at 9 a.m. Friday.