No verdict yet in trial of ex-Pasco cop; jurors continue deliberations

Jurors deliberated for six hours Thursday without reaching a verdict in the rape and assault trial of Richard J. Aguirre.

The former Pasco police officer is on trial in Franklin County Superior Court for third-degree rape and fourth-degree assault.

He is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in November 2014.

The two had met for dinner to catch up, then had drinks at three different Benton County establishments with two other people. Aguirre and the woman then went to his Pasco home to go to sleep, since she was too intoxicated to drive back to her Yakima County home.

Aguirre, now 52, denied having any sexual contact with the woman, saying it made him “uncomfortable” when she cuddled up next to him in bed.

The jury on Thursday afternoon asked to listen to Aguirre’s recorded statement to authorities. Judge Bruce Spanner had prosecutors play it in the public courtroom.

The trial started July 6 with jury selection.

Jurors listened to 2  1/2 days of testimony. The defense called one witness — a DNA consultant — in the middle of the prosecution’s case, due to scheduling.

Aguirre did not take the stand.

The case was handed to the jury late Wednesday afternoon.

This story was originally published July 14, 2016 at 6:50 PM with the headline "No verdict yet in trial of ex-Pasco cop; jurors continue deliberations."