Jury begins deliberations in grand theft case

Just before 1:30 p.m. Monday, a jury began deliberations in the case of a Hillsboro man charged with stealing a car from a Highland County resident and driving the vehicle to Kentucky. 

Shane Rhoads, who was represented by attorney Conrad Curren, is charged with one count of grand theft, a felony of the fourth degree. 

Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss presided over the trial.

Curren alleged that the victim gave implied consent for Rhoads to take the vehicle, a 2010 Ford Fusion, after the defendant stated his intent to take the car, and she allegedly "did not say anything."

  However, she testified that she told him that he could not take the vehicle. 

The state, represented by Highland County Prosecutor Molly Bolek, presented two witnesses - the alleged victim, and investigating officer Sgt. Steve Alexander of the Highland County Sheriff's Office. 

The alleged victim testified that she had a civil protection order taken out against the defendant in the fall of 2011. He arrived at her home on Jan. 27 with the stated intent that he was going to collect his belongings. When she arrived home from work that day, she testified, the defendant allegedly said he was going to take her keys to listen to the radio in her car. She then left the room, and when she returned, said she saw him driving away in her vehicle.

"Did you give him permission to take the car?" Bolek asked.

"No," she said.

The alleged victim also testified that on previous occasions, Rhoads has told her that he was going to take her car and that she would "never see him again." 

Rhoads does not have a driver's license, which is another reason she testified she did not want him driving her vehicle. 

According to the bill of particulars filed by the state, "The vehicle ... was recovered with the defendant in Kentucky."

On cross-examination, Curren referenced testimony that the alleged victim gave during a preliminary hearing in the case in Hillsboro Municipal Court. 

According to her testimony from that hearing, when asked how she responded when Rhoads stated his intent to take the car, she said, "I don't think I said anything." 

Curren asked which testimony was the truth. The alleged victim said that the day she gave the testimony in Municipal Court she was nervous and had not been told she was going to have to testify. 

"I didn't lie," she said, and then specified that the testimony Monday, and what she said in her written statement to police, was the truth. 

The state rested its case following the cross-examination. The defense did not put on any evidence or witnesses. 

In his closing statements to the jury, Curren said that the alleged victim has given two different statements on the elements of what happened. 

Referring to the Municipal Court testimony that she didn't say anything, Curren said, "By her silence, she gave him permission to take the car. And she got it back. I don't know what the problem is between these two ... In our daily lives, we don't often have an opportunity to make a difference. Today, you do have an opportunity to make a difference. You cannot use false testimony (to get a conviction).

In her closing statements, Bolek said that the defendant knowingly took the keys to the vehicle, without permission, and the car ended up in an impound lot in Kentucky. The victim, who drove the vehicle every day to work, had to take a day off work to get the vehicle back.

"Silence is golden, but it doesn't mean consent," Bolek said.