Dismissal of charges sought

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The attorney for accused child rapist Garrison Salyer wants “extrajudicial” statements made by the Hillsboro man suppressed and the charges dismissed.

Attorney J.D. Wagoner filed the motion to suppress with a memorandum of support on Monday, two days before what was scheduled to be the final pretrial hearing before Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss via video link from the Highland County Jail.

Court records show that a motion to continue the case beyond the scheduled July 15 jury trial date was filed the next day.

Salyer is facing two first-degree felony charges of rape in connection with alleged incidents involving his then 1-year-old son between Jan. 1 and June 1, 2019, according to the indictment returned against him on June 1.

In the motion to suppress, Wagoner asserted that any extrajudicial statements, meaning those he had made outside of court, should be suppressed and that the charges be dismissed.

Citing the 1916 State v. Maranda case, Wagoner submitted that Salyer’s extrajudicial comments were not admissible, adding that the prosecution’s case was based solely on his alleged confession and that there was no independent evidence corroborating the confession.

Wagoner further maintained that the Ohio Supreme Court held that it had long been established as a general rule that there must be some evidence outside of a confession, tending to establish the “corpus delicti,” meaning the body of the crime, before such a confession would become admissible.

The memorandum in support of the motion stated that on or about April 21, 2021, a Hillsboro police officer responded to the home of Salyer in reference to an alleged rape.

According to the officer’s narrative, he had received a referral from Highland County Children Services concerning Salyer’s 2-year old son, since earlier in the day, the board said it had received a report from a counselor at a social services agency, where he allegedly admitted to raping his then 1-year old son.

In the memorandum, it was stated the officer contacted Salyer and questioned him about the allegations, with Salyer admitting to doing various acts involving his son.

He in turn was arrested and charged with two counts of rape, a first-degree felony.

It was also stated in the support memorandum that according to the prosecutor’s discovery in the case, there was no eyewitness to the act, the child hadn’t verbalized the alleged conduct occurred, nor was ever medically examined or had a forensic interview conducted.

Wagoner submitted that there was no physical or independent evidence that a rape ever occurred, and maintained the charges against his client were based solely on his extrajudicial statements.

In the legal analysis of the motion, he asserted that the only evidence against Salyer was his alleged confession of inappropriately touching his son.

Both parties in the case will appear before Coss on Tuesday, July 13 at 11 a.m. for a pretrial hearing. A new jury trial date has been set for Monday, Aug. 23.

Reach Tim Colliver at 937-402-2571.

This screenshot from the Highland County Common Pleas Court YouTube stream shows Judge Rocky Coss (top) and Garrison Salyer during Wednesday’s hearing.
https://www.timesgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2021/07/web1_Coss-and-Salyer.jpgThis screenshot from the Highland County Common Pleas Court YouTube stream shows Judge Rocky Coss (top) and Garrison Salyer during Wednesday’s hearing. Tim Colliver | The Times-Gazette
Suspect faces charges of raping 1-year-old son

By Tim Colliver

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