Jury finds Borst guilty
Farmington trial of Gallup man ends with 2 convictions, 3 acquittals

By Brian Hassler
Staff Writer

FARMINGTON — After five hours of deliberation, a Farmington jury found Gallup resident Barry Borst guilty of two of the five charges against him.

Of the 30 years Borst could have received for the five charges, he faces four and a half years in prison after being found guilty of criminal sexual penetration II and false imprisonment.

Jury rendered not guilty verdicts on two additional counts of criminal sexual penetration and one count of criminal sexual contact.

The day began with Assistant District Attorney Harry Kassakhian and defense attorney David Pederson presenting the closing arguments before the jury entered deliberation.

In its deliberations, the jury found Borst guilty of false imprisonment rather than kidnapping. A kidnapping charge carries with it a mandatory 18-year sentence, while false imprisonment has a sentence of 18 months.

Each count of criminal sexual penetration was worth three years, and Borst was found guilty of CSP II, an act that carried with it the most physical damage to the victim.

But despite avoiding some of the charges, Pederson was left wondering how the jury came to such a conclusion on charges that were linked to each other and linked to the accusations of the victim.

"Quite honestly I think it reflects a compromised verdict, I think it's one of those ones that the evidence was very conflicted from both sides and I think the jury really wrestled with that," he said.

"I'm somewhat surprised because of the nature of the charges, because they are inter-related and one would have to think that it was an all-or-nothing deal. I think it represented a compromise on what they felt happened."

The jury members exited quickly after the verdict was read and none were willing to comment on whether the struggles that the prosecution had in corroborating the evidence was a factor in the final verdict.

"Yes we are happy with the final verdict," said one juror. "It was hard to come to these. You're affecting someone's life. We tried to be as careful and cautious and deliberate as much as we could. There was no rush."

But the reduction in kidnapping charges and the not guilty verdicts on two counts of criminal sexual penetration and one count of criminal sexual contact has Pederson already planning for an appeal on the charges.

"Obviously they felt that there was adequate evidence to find him guilty of two crimes. Once the pre-sentence report comes in and the judge determines the sentence, we'll obviously pursue his appeals. He (Borst) has that right to try to get the two convictions overturned on appeals," said Pederson.

"Sometimes it's hard to figure out what the rationale of the jury is. Sometimes the inconsistencies in it themselves, though that's generally not a strong ground for appeal, it may under these circumstances be a basis to challenge the conviction," the defense attorney said. "To say that it may be difficult to come up with a logical explanation as to why it was yes on one and no on the other three, it still remains to be seen."

Kassakhian was pleased with the guilty results as he spoke about returning to Gallup for the next rape trial against Borst.

"The next step for us is to try him for the next rape trial in Gallup," he said. "We're looking forward to it."

The trial that concluded Monday was moved to Farmington after Borst attorneys requested a change of venue citing intense pretrial media coverage in the Gallup area.

— Brian Hassler is The Independent's Four Corners reporter based in Shiprock. Contact him at (505) 360-7862 or via email at brianhassler@hotmail.com.