CAMDEN COUNTY, Mo. — After a mistrial earlier this summer, Dennis Purdy is now pleading Not Guilty to sexually abusing a teenage employee at the local Dairy Queen restaurant he formerly owned.
On Wednesday, Sept. 14, in the Camden County Courtroom of Senior Judge Donald Barnes, Dennis Purdy entered a plea of Not Guilty to the charges contained in the Second Amended Criminal Information. That document contains three counts of criminal activity.
- Forcible Sodomy (Deviate Sexual Intercourse by the use of Forcible Compulsion)
- Statutory Sodomy in the 2nd Degree (Deviate Sexual Intercourse with a victim less than 17 years old while the defendant was older than 21 years of age), and
- Sexual Abuse (Knowingly subjecting the victim to sexual contact by use of forcible compulsion)
The case against Purdy has taken some judicial twists and turns.
The defendant had previously reached a plea agreement with the prosecuting attorney’s office. In May of this year, Purdy entered an Alford Plea as to count one, Forcible Sodomy—Deviate Sexual Intercourse by Forcible Compulsion-- and a plea of Guilty as to count two of the charges, Statutory Sodomy – 2nd Degree (a C Level felony).
An Alford Plea means the defendant does not admit to the facts of the charge, but realizes the State has sufficient evidence to prevail at trial where the penalty may be much worse than the negotiated penalty offered in exchange for a plea.
In order to enter a guilty plea, the defendant must offer specific details of the crime which would convince the court that the defendant’s actions met the specific statutory definition of the charge. This factual basis was met on Count 2, when Purdy described to the judge his actions with the victim.
But as to Count 1, Purdy stated he could not recall if his hand actually touched the victim's genitals when he put his hand inside her clothing. That statement undermined the factual basis for the Guilty Plea and Purdy was allowed to withdraw his plea and re-enter an Alford Plea.
Another twist occurred at the time of the Sentencing Assessment Report when Purdy made sworn statements to the Department of Corrections Personnel conducting the interview. The facts stated by Purdy at that time differed from the factual statements which Purdy had sworn to in the courtroom when he entered his plea on the charges.
Based upon the defendant’s inconsistencies between the two sworn statements, Judge Hayden declared a mistrial on July 12, 2016. This action by the court brought the defendant, Purdy, back into the courtroom to begin the process again in front of Senior Judge Donald Barnes on September 14, 2016.
Purdy's former plea arrangement had included removing the third charge of Sexual abuse, a class C Felony, which carries a maximum penalty of Seven (7) years in the state penitentiary. But that deal is off the table, and for this new trial, the prosecuting attorney’s office has reinstated all three charges of the original proceedings.
Having to reface these three charges in a new trial exposes the defendant, if found guilty, to a range of punishments for these crimes from five (5) years to life imprisonment for Count 1 and carries the additional stipulation that the defendant is not eligible for parole until 85 percent of whatever sentence is imposed by the court has been served. The class C Felonies of Counts 2 and 3 carry a range of punishment of not less than two (2) years and not to exceed seven (7) years.
The trial court may impose sentences to run consecutively or concurrently. Consecutive sentences mean the sentence imposed for each count must be served completely before the next sentence can start to run. This, in effect, stacks the years up by adding them together for a total number of years. Concurrent sentencing allows them to all start on the same day, which means a much shorter total of time served for the defendant.
Defense attorney Simon and Prosecutor Gilley jointly requested a continuance on Wednesday, as they have to discuss possible trial dates and inform the court as to those dates.
