Westmoreland judge rejects Hyde Park man's appeal of sexual assault conviction

A Westmoreland County judge ruled the evidence presented against a Hyde Park man at his June sexual assault trial was sufficient to support the guilty verdicts rendered by jurors.

In a 16-page opinion issued Wednesday, Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio rejected the appeal by Larry Lee Redmond.

Redmond, 40, was convicted of the sexual assault and related offenses in connection with allegations raised by a 13-year-old girl in 2015. Redmond is currently serving an 8-to-20-year prison sentence.

In an appeal filed last month, Redmond contended his jurors had insufficient evidence to support the guilty verdict and that he should receive a new trial because of newly discovered evidence that could convince jurors of his innocence.

According to court records, Redmond’s defense suggested that following the trial it learned about a video conference between the victim and a relative in which she is alleged to have lied about her accusation that Redmond two times forced her to engage in sexual activity.

Redmond’s lawyer in court documents contended he could not produce the video and an attempt to question witnesses in court about that communication was rejected by judge.

Bilik-DeFazio said it was unlikely that evidence of the video communication would have resulted in a different verdict, which she said was based on the credibility of Redmond’s accuser.

“Defendant’s motion solely rested on an allegation that a video chat took place in which the minor victim stated that she had lied. This court opined that a further hearing on this was not necessary since it heard argument from both parties on the same issue during defendant’s sentencing,” the judge wrote.