A 43-year-old Durango man was found not guilty of sexual assault, two assault charges and a menacing charge on Thursday stemming from a disturbance with his girlfriend in March 2020.

Christopher Clark began sobbing after the second not guilty verdict was announced. He removed his glasses and wiped his eyes with tissues as the remaining not guilty verdicts were read.

Clark had been accused by his girlfriend of sexual assault at a Durango motel and then assaulting her in the 2500 block of Main Avenue.

The incident between Clark and his accuser was witnessed by several people, who gave differing accounts, some saying they saw Clark hitting, choking and dragging a woman, and others saying they saw a woman hitting and knocking Clark to the ground.

Defense attorney David Maxted said the case came down to the word of Clark’s accuser.

In his closing argument, he said she testified before the court “high as a kite.”

He said the accuser had difficulty keeping her eyes open while testifying and spoke with a slur.

“She showed disrespect to you and disrespect to this courtroom,” he said.

The hard evidence, the credibility of Clark’s accuser and the reliability of the evidence from witnesses who gave different accounts of the altercation on Main Avenue, all led to reasonable doubt that the accuser made a false report, Maxted said.

No blood or semen was found in the motel room, where the accuser said she had been sexually assaulted by Clark, Maxted said.

He noted the accuser had an opportunity to leave Clark the morning after the alleged sexual assault, but instead went to Walgreens where surveillance video showed her shoplifting and then returning to the motel room where Clark had remained.

“She had an opportunity to leave,” Maxted said. Instead, she returned to the motel room with Clark, he said.

“She had plenty of opportunity to escape,” he added.

Clark was found guilty of several counts of violating a protection order that required him to stay away from the accuser. He was also found guilty of violating bail conditions and tampering with a witness. Four of those guilty verdicts are considered crimes of domestic violence.

After the verdicts, Deputy District Attorney-Appellate Sean Murray said in a telephone interview, “The people just want to say ‘thank you’ to the jury for their service, and their patience, listening to all the evidence.”

Sixth Judicial District Judge Todd Norvell will rule on eight counts of habitual criminal offenses charged against Clark at a sentencing hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.

The case was only the second jury trial to be completed in the 6th Judicial District since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

Herald Deputy Editor Shane Benjamin contributed to this report.

parmijo@durangoherald