Jury seated in Calloway assault case
By John Joyce
Published in News on March 2, 2015 1:46 PM
With 12 jurors and two alternates impaneled, opening statements commenced in Wayne County Superior Court Friday in the statutory rape trial of former Goldsboro police Capt. Chad E. Calloway.
Calloway is accused of sexually assaulting his then-stepdaughter over a period of time between 1999 and 2001.
One court official said attorneys in the case spent much of their time Friday in discussions outside the presence of the jury.
"They were in chambers a lot," the official said.
According to court documents, prosecutor Rachel Larsen delivered a four-minute-long opening statement once the trial resumed.
Defense attorney Geoff Hulse reserved his time to address the jury for closing arguments at the end of the trial.
Calloway is charged with eight felony counts -- two counts each of statutory rape of a person 13, 14, or 15 years old, statutory sexual offense of a person 13, 14, or 15 years old, indecent liberties with a child and sexual offense by a substitute parent.
Court documents show a plea agreement was on the table at one point offering a reduction in charges in return for a guilty plea.
The agreement, rejected by Hulse, carried a potential sentence of probation and an undisclosed amount of jail time, indicated in the documents by a question mark.
The details of the agreement do not appear in the minutes kept by the clerk of courts.
There is no indication whether that plea agreement is expired or is still available to Calloway should he decide to change his plea of not guilty.
The state is expected to call its first witness at 10 a.m. today.