A former Rifle barbershop owner left Colorado on Wednesday to start a new life after being cleared of charges of sexual assault on children, his attorney said.
A jury acquitted Michael William Wood late Friday night following a four-day trial. The acquittal came after a July trial that ended when a first jury couldn’t break a 10-2 deadlock in favor of conviction.
Wood was arrested by the Garfield County Sheriff’s Department on Dec. 31, 2008, and he had been jailed since then in lieu of $300,000 bond. His attorney, Ted Hess, said Wood lost his Rifle barbershop, and his home went into foreclosure.
“Literally everything he had is gone, and he’s going to have to start a new life as a barber,” Hess said.
Wood had been accused of inappropriately touching a child Sept. 13, 2008, while baby-sitting, and of having done the same thing to another child as often as once a month between 1994 and 1999.
Hess said that child who was subject of the earlier allegations is the mother of the child involved in the subsequent allegations.
Hess said one issue Wood’s defense team raised was why someone who claimed she had been abused would allow the abuser access to her child.
The defense argued the 2008 incident involved potty training rather than sexual assault. Hess also questioned the mother’s failure to come forward sooner with her own allegations of abuse while under Wood’s care. He said the allegations appear to have been made partly in belated retribution for Wood’s efforts to impose discipline by insisting she do chores and homework.
He said that in the second trial, the defense was able to question the mother’s credibility by pointing to her involvement in an $1,800 theft.
Hess believes the Sheriff’s Department and 9th Judicial District Attorney’s Office bought into “an amazing exploitation of the system” by Wood’s accusers.
Said Anne Kirkpatrick, lead prosecutor in the case, “I disagree with Mr. Hess’s interpretation of the facts. I’m disappointed in the outcome, but I respect the jury’s verdict.”
Email DENNIS WEBB
Comments
By disgusted friend
Nov 8, 2009 2:15 PM | Link to this
I can't believe that this monster's attorney actually thinks that these charges were "belated retribution for Woodıs efforts to impose discipline by insisting she do chores and homework." Come on here the mother in this case is 26 now with 4 kids, do you really think that's the case?? This man is GUILTY he just managed to have a snake for an attorney who used underhanded tricks to get him off. I've got news for this pervert, he won't be working as a barber in petty much any state as his arrest record stays with him FOREVER, which is exactly what he deserves for what he did!! George, I am sorry that your son was fasely accused but this guy wasn't!! What this paper and the one in Glenwood Springs have failed to mention is that he has 2 lifetime retraining orders out on him and is still facing protection order violations and domestic violence charges so this is not some poor innocent victim here!! The victims left in his wake including the ones that were to terrified to come forward in this case are the ones who will continue to be victimized by articles such as this one!! I wouldn't be surprised if because of the way our justice system is letting all of these guilty perverts out to re-offend that fewer and fewer victims will be coming forward! Why bother if it isn't going to matter! That is a sad testiment to what our justice system has become nowdays. This man took away the innocence of two beautiful young ladies in this case, I saw them as they tesified, how anyone wasn't in tears after that baby talked about what her "pop" did to her is a very cold-hearted person!! The story that unfolded from the mom about the repeated sexual abuse over her teen-age years, turned my stomach especially after hearing that this monster put a gun in her face and threatened to kill her to keep her quiet all these years is sickening!! Seeing her cry as she told the jury, "I just want my 5 year old to have a normal 5 year old's life" made me cry like a baby!! It has been this monsters family who has had to stay, try to pick up the pieces of an existence and try to go on. His soon-to-be-ex-wife lost everything too as well as faith in our system. I spoke to her briefly by phone and could hear the downright fear in her voice at having him out walking free, it was heart-breaking!! So my advice for whatever value you want to put on it is, be careful to not judge to quickly just from a journalist's view, learn the backstory and be informed!!
By A Friend
Nov 7, 2009 12:39 PM | Link to this
I'm commenting on this article to set a few things straight. Just because a jury found this man not guilty does not make him innocent in the eyes of the Lord. He will always be guilty of the offense til he dies. I don't think the jury in this trial paid any attention to the video taped evidence of the child by the police investigators or any of the evidence given by the other witnesses. This woman has went through 15 years of hell trying to cope with what happened to her and then to have the same man do this to her daughter. As to the evidence given by the defense in the case was to drag every bit of dirt that they could asbout this young woman. Since when does an $1800.00 theft conviction make a person a liar. As to the potty training claim, I know for a fact that this child was already potty trained. Another thing is, what right does this man have to be the one doing anything with the cleaning or whatever he claimed he was doing to for this child. That is not his job in the first place. As to mr. Wood's feeling this was case of retribution is just the thing I would think he would come up with. With what I know about him from the past he has always been one who feels he is a saint. In his business he cut hair and was friends with many of the police and sheriff officers and this young woman must have felt for many years that she would not be believed by the system, until this happened to her daughter she felt she had to do something to get him off the streets before he did it to somebody else. As to the DA accepting the jury's verdict, I DO NOT. My feeling is that due to the timing of the case,(Halloween weekend) the jury did not to take to long deliberating this case and interfere with thier chance to go out and party.
By natasha miracle
Nov 5, 2009 6:38 PM | Link to this
This is just another incident proving that the legal system not only works against tax paying citizens, it also profits off of them.
By George
Nov 5, 2009 7:36 AM | Link to this
The DA"s office is GJ is always doing things like this. My son was accused of a sex crime. The police and DA didn't even bother to investigate, just took the word of an ex-wife and ruined his life. They gave the info to the local newspaper who put it out all over the internet. He not only lost his job and his child. He could not find another place to live. The case was later dropped because we hired a detective who found evidence to clear him. It cost us over $30,000 to get the case dropped. He lost his reputation, his child, his life. The DA's office should have to pay back people who's lives they have ruined by falsely accusing.
By Bebe Byrd
Nov 5, 2009 5:43 AM | Link to this
It doesn't surprise me, in our justice system today, we are not innocent until proven guilty, we are guilty right off the bat and then it costs us our livleyhoods to get to the truth, in the end, all lose but the prosecuting attorney who walks away with a paycheck.
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