Jury Delivers ‘Not Guilty’ Verdict for Inmate Charged with Harassment

LIVINGSTON COUNTY — A jury took 20 minutes to find a felon serving state prison time ‘not guilty’ after being accused of the crime of aggravated harassment.

Denny Olmeda was charged with aggravated harassment of a corrections officer by an inmate, a class “E” felony.  Mr. Olmeda was accused of throwing body fluids at an officer, but the Livingston County jury wasn’t buying it for the few drops of liquid that splashed on the corrections officer’s pant leg.

“In order to prove this crime there needs to be evidence that the action was done with the intent to annoy, harass, alarm or threaten,” said Hayden Dadd, Livingston County Conflict Defender. “My client and I argued that there was no evidence of this intent and this was all just an unfortunate accident.  Thankfully, the jury agreed with our position.”

Olmeda was incarcerated at the time in Livingston Correctional Facility for a criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and will continue to serve his sentence with the Department of Corrections.  If Olmeda had been found guilty of this charge he could have been sentenced up to two and half to five years consecutive to the sentence he is already serving.

“The great thing about our justice system is that everyone has the right to challenge and confront the charges that are lodged against them,” said Dadd.