On Thursday, after deliberating only an hour, a Montgomery County jury acquitted former Tech quarterback and Hokie legend Jim Druckenmiller of the charge of rape.

Perhaps you have noticed that I haven't been covering the trial, other than noting when it started. The main reason? Hey, this is a family web page! And some of the testimony was rather graphic, which never stops the mainstream media from reporting it in detail, but I'm not comfortable with it. Plus, plenty of links to newspaper reports have been posted on the message board, so I left it at that.  Speaking of which, here are articles that track the entire trial:

Rape trial begins for Druckenmiller - July 20th
Druckenmiller accuser takes stand - July 21st
Druckenmiller: sex was consensual - July 22nd
Jury acquits Druckenmiller - July 22nd

I think this case boiled down to "he said, she said," and as is the case in many of these situations, alcohol played a major part. To summarize, here's what I've been able to glom from newspaper articles and talk radio reports:

• Druck never denied that the two of them had sex, but he said it was consensual.

• The accuser was extremely intoxicated the night of the incident. A toxicologist reported that she had a blood alcohol level of 0.07% the following afternoon, and he estimated that at the time of the incident, she had a BAL of somewhere between 0.25% and 0.33%. For reference, 0.08% is defined as legally drunk with regards to DUI offenses, and you are in danger of death from 0.40% and up.

• The accuser says she did not "come on to" Druckenmiller, and that she doesn't remember kissing him or saying that she wanted to have sex with him.

• Multiple witnesses reported that the accuser was kissing Druck, dancing sexually with him, and in the words of one witness, giving him "the most seductive looks I've ever seen." Witnesses also reported hearing the girl talk dirty to Druck and say that she wanted to have sex with him.

• The girl threw up twice during the evening and doesn't remember anything after leaving the last bar, until she woke up with Druck on top of her and … you know.

• Druckenmiller and the girl's friend put her to bed fully clothed at one point. Obviously, Druck went back into the room at some later time, and he says that they undressed each other, she told him that she knew what she was doing, and they had sex.   She remembers no such, thing, just waking up with him on top of her.

To me, the key focus in this trial is obviously what happened in the bedroom. We'll never know, and apparently, Druck is the only one who knows. The accuser says she doesn't remember, and therefore, she perceives what happened as rape, because she doesn't remember agreeing to it. Druck testified that she wanted sex, so naturally, he doesn't see it as rape.

Given all that, a guilty verdict was doubtful (more on that later), but the defense's case was sealed to the good when they played a tape-recorded conversation between Druck and the police that occurred the day after the incident. Reports about the contents of the tape were a little sketchy, but from what I can tell, it consisted of the police telling Druck that she was claiming rape.

Druck's reaction on the tape was apparently instant and incredulous, and he blurted out several details along the lines of "She undressed me" and things like that. I'm guessing that he didn't sound like someone who had committed rape, realized he might get in trouble, and then thought up a story. He probably sounded like someone who couldn't believe what was being said, and he proceeded to blurt out the truth.

And when the defense played that tape, the prosecuting attorney's case was dead in the water. As I said, the jury only took one hour to return the not-guilty verdict.

And now, the editorial. I've got two things to say.

Number one, I think that in life, there is always balance. Druck experienced two great years at Virginia Tech, where he was a hero and won a ton of games for a fan base that grew to adore him. He was picked in the first round of the NFL draft, and he signed a multi-million dollar contract. He was on top of the world.

Since then, things have gone poorly. His career is floundering in San Francisco, and he no doubt hit rock bottom in that Montgomery County court room this week as he sat next to his mother and heard graphic and detailed testimony about his sexual escapades that night. From here, there's nowhere for Druck to go but up.

Not to be preachy about it, but he is, in a large way, responsible for this situation. A 26-year old football hero worth millions of dollars should choose his sexual partners more carefully, and should control himself a little better so he doesn’t wind up in situations like this. But that's Druck. At least, it was Druck. I'll bet that in the future, he's much more careful.

This is probably the biggest learning experience of his life. He's lucky that he learned a relatively painless lesson. All it cost him was his dignity, instead of jail time. He can move on, for the most part, wounded but okay.

Number two, the district attorney ought to be embarrassed for taking such a paper-thin case to court. Good lord, did they even interview the witnesses for the defense? When the accuser says, "I don't remember," and multiple witnesses say, "I remember, and she was all over him," doesn't that sound like something the jury would interpret as reasonable doubt, for crying out loud?

This case never had a chance, and the fact that the jury returned the verdict in the time it takes twelve people to sit down, say, "Yup, not guilty," and write it down on a sheet of paper attests to the fact that not only was there reasonable doubt, there were tons of it.

Immediately after the trial, Druck blasted prosecuting attorney Skip Schwab, accusing him of having a "vendetta." Me, I'm just happy I don’t pay taxes in Montgomery County, because this was an incredible waste of time and money.

I don't know much about law. Perhaps once the accuser decided to press charges, a trial had to follow, whether the case was solid or not. But to me, it looks like this one never should have gotten this far.

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