Despite a judge’s decision last year to reverse his conviction for the rape of a minor, Joshua Gene Horner remains under investigation by Redmond Police Department for the same alleged crimes.

The fact was aired at a hearing last month in Deschutes County Circuit Court, in which Judge Beth Bagley ultimately declined to hand over most of the evidence seized from Horner by Redmond Police following his 2014 arrest.

“The Redmond Police Department is still investigating this matter, is in the contact with the victim, her family and potential witnesses, and believes that additional evidence will be developed that will result in the retrial of Mr. Horner,” the department wrote, through its attorney, Steven Bryant.

In the end, Bagley denied a motion to return Horner’s seized property, except for certain items Redmond Police was prepared to release.

Horner was arrested in late 2014 and charged with sexually abusing someone known to him.

Eleven of 12 jurors returned guilty verdicts for two counts of first-degree sexual abuse in March 2017.

As Horner’s attorneys appealed the verdict, the Oregon Innocence Project presented evidence to the Deschutes County District Attorney’s office that the accuser’s claims were erroneous.

As the DA investigated, the Oregon Court of Appeals reversed Horner’s conviction in July and remanded the case for a new trial.

In September, Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel announced he would not retry Horner on the same charges, citing bad evidence presented at trial and lack of cooperation from the accuser.

“A significant claim made at trial by the named victim in this case was not true,” Hummel wrote in a court brief. Specifically, the alleged victim said Horner killed her dog to threaten her into not reporting the alleged sexual abuse, he wrote.

Hummel said his office in 2018 was able to track down the dog, “alive and well.”

“While I cannot say with certainty that Mr. Horner did not sexually abuse the named victim, I can say I am not convinced by a preponderance of the evidence that is now available that he did, and I am certainly not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt,” Hummel wrote.

Hummel’s announcement came on the heels of another victory for the Oregon Innocence Project

The Horner case was used as an example of how Oregon’s law allowing nonunanimous juries can lead to bad results.

Also in September, Judge A. Michael Adler dismissed the case “without prejudice,” meaning the charges could be brought again.

The next month, Hummel signed a release sent to Redmond Police stating the agency was authorized to release evidence and property seized from Horner.

“My wife and I contacted the Redmond Police Department numerous times in an attempt to schedule a time to retrieve the items, with no success,” Horner wrote in a motion filed by his attorney.

The seized evidence includes a dozen firearms and air rifles, cellphones, laptops and hard drives containing digital data.

In its responding motion, Redmond Police objected to releasing most of the items.

“The items are still needed for evidential purposes,” Bryant wrote. “Some of the evidence currently held by the Redmond Police Department will be critical to that future prosecution.”

The statute of limitations for some of the original charges runs out when the accuser turns 25. For other charges, there is no statute of limitations.

— Reporter: 541-383-0325, gandrews@bendbulletin.com