TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES -- A former Moulton Middle School teacher was acquitted by a jury Thursday of having sex with a high school student despite testimony from the former student and a videotaped confession by the teacher that the two had sex.
After a 52-minute deliberation Thursday, an 11-man, one-woman jury found Taylor Brooks Boyles, 30, of Moulton, not guilty on the Class B felony charge. If convicted, she could have been sentenced to up to 20 years in prison and been branded a sex offender for the remainder of her life.
Immediately after the verdict was read, she fell into her chair and sobbed with joy. About 20 family members and friends attending the trial cheered the verdict.
Defense attorney Mark Dutton said the state law his client was charged with is unfair to school employees and needs to be amended.
The law says it is unlawful for a school employee to engage in a sex act or deviant sexual intercourse with a student under 19. In other circumstances, the age of consent in Alabama is 16.
“I believe the law is unconstitutional and very poorly written as we see it today in fairness to school employees, teachers, students, parents and the citizens of this state,” Dutton said Thursday afternoon. “I think this law needs to be modified by the state Legislature. This law is obviously way too broad and ambiguous in certain parts. ... I believe that there should be some limiting exceptions to this statute."
After the trial, jury foreman Samuel Todd Kerby told The Decatur Daily the state failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
During testimony Wednesday, Greyson Wayne Long, 21, said he was 18 and a senior at Lawrence County High School when he and Boyles met at her home two times in the spring of 2017 and had sexual intercourse and oral sex. He testified he spent the night both times.
Boyles did not testify at the trial.
In a five-minute video interview with law enforcement authorities on May 18, 2017, she admitted to having sex with Long. The videotape was played for the jury.
“Taylor was under the impression she was being removed from her job as a teacher at that time and was being interrogated by investigators for a period of time,” Dutton said in closing arguments. “She was obviously confused and under stress in the video and she never gave a sworn statement there was ever any sexual activity involved. … I saw somebody who was shell-shocked.”
After fielding a few questions from Moulton Police Capt. Adam Lentz and Lawrence County Sheriff Capt. Chris Waldrep in the video, Boyles quit answering and said she wanted an attorney.
Boyles’ personnel record with Lawrence County Schools shows she was placed on administrative leave on May 18, 2017, and the school board terminated her contract May 22, 2017, the same day she was arrested on the felony charge.
In a 36-minute closing argument Thursday, Dutton told the jurors he wondered why the state didn’t present then-Moulton Middle School Principal Stacie Givens and Lentz as witnesses.
“And the state didn’t prove that (Boyles) knowingly engaged in sex with the student,” Dutton said in his closing argument. “Was she awake? Was she cognitive? There was no physical evidence presented in this case.”
Superintendent Jon Bret Smith testified Wednesday that he met with Givens after he received an anonymous voicemail May 18, 2017, claiming Boyles was having an inappropriate relationship as a teacher. Smith said he and Givens then questioned Boyles about the allegations, and she acknowledged the sexual relationship.
Dutton told the jurors Waldrep and Lentz misled Boyles with their questions. “They didn’t know anything at that point,” he said.
Dutton said Smith failed to produce any written documentation of the alleged criminal act in 2017.
He also questioned the grand jury indictment, which didn’t specify when the crime was allegedly committed. “Can you find her guilty in good conscience when you don’t even know the date when it happened? That’s another hole in the case,” Dutton said to the jurors.
Lawrence County District Attorney Errek Jett told the jurors an indictment doesn’t have to have a date.
“The statute is clear,” he said. “While she was a teacher and (Long) was a student, they had sex. They had sex two times. … Our Legislature passed a law and we are bound to follow it.”
Circuit Judge Mark Craig told the jurors consent was not an issue and “not a defense in this case.”
Jett said he was disappointed in the jury’s verdict and thought the evidence that a teacher had sex with a student under the age of 19 was proved and a clear violation of the law that was enacted in 2010.
“I’m thankful that our freedoms include the jury system,” he said. “I presented evidence that I thought proved the case. However, I respect the jury’s diligence this week and decision today.”
Dutton said his client is eager to get on with her life.
“On behalf of Taylor and her family, they’re glad to get this over with. They’re extremely thankful the jury ruled in her favor,” he said. “They are people of faith and praise God for the outcome and they look forward to getting on with life.”
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