Las Vegas man acquitted of human trafficking in Orange County

A 34-year-old Las Vegas man accused of human trafficking a prostitute in Orange County has been acquitted, his attorney said Friday.

Jarrell Sidney Reid was acquitted Thursday of 11 counts ranging from human trafficking, sexual penetration by a foreign object and force, forcible oral copulation and sodomy by force, rape, pimping and pandering. Jurors also rejected lesser charges of felony attempted pimping and misdemeanor assault.

Reid has been in custody since his arrested July 8 of last year.

He has an open case related to a fight while in jail that his attorney, Roger Sheaks, expects to resolve next week.

The case had been thrown out in December when attorneys were not yet ready to proceed, Sheaks told City News Service. The trial began in late August and jurors deliberated for two days before acquitting the defendant, Sheaks said.

"I had 150 hours of videotape of the victim," Sheaks said. "She was jealous, scorned and broken up with and she had every motive in the world to make this stuff up. She also has a variety of mental problems, and I had evidence for all of that. I've never had so much evidence on the defense side. It was a mountain of evidence."

Reid and his accuser met in Las Vegas through a mutual friend, and when the two hit it off right away, the friend kicked them out, and the couple drove to Orange County in Reid's construction truck, Sheaks said.

Reid had been having marital problems and fell hard for his accuser, but the relationship soon soured, Sheaks said.

The accuser checked herself into a hospital soon after their breakup, stopped drinking and told prosecutors she wanted to recant her allegations at the end of November of last year, Sheaks said.

The woman testified in the trial and "recanted everything," Sheaks said. The defendant's estranged wife also testified for him, Sheaks said.

Reid has "lost his truck and lost his job," Sheaks added.

"I am so thankful for those jurors," Sheaks said. "They saw through the nonsense. They were meticulous and thoughtful. It was the best jury that I've had in a long time."

Prosecutors said in court documents that police were called to the Outlets of Orange in the city of Orange on July 4 last year for a domestic violence incident.

The woman told police two days later in a follow-up that she had never dated the defendant, but had a one-night stand in Sacramento, prosecutors said. The next morning she said he started forcing her to have sex with other men for money, prosecutors alleged.

She also said he beat her when she refused and pimped her in various places in the state, prosecutors alleged. She accused him of beating her in a Garden Grove hotel when she did not make enough money, prosecutors said.

The woman accused him of raping her in a hotel in Anaheim and attempting to smother her with a pillow, prosecutors alleged.

Reid told police when he was arrested that the woman was his girlfriend and denied knowing she worked as a prostitute or ever threatening or attacking her, prosecutors said.

Police found a video on his phone "that appeared to show a rape and sexual penetration of Jane Doe by defendant," prosecutors said in court papers.

Sheaks said the woman testified during the trial that she is a sex worker.