In a stunning, stinging defeat for the District Attorney’s office, Thomas Edward Lenhart III walked out of the Lamar County courthouse a free man just before noon Thursday after a jury found him not guilty on both the counts against him. Lenhart had been charged with first degree vehicular homicide and hit and run in connection with the death of Norman Anderson on March 2, 2012. After the verdicts were read by jury foreman Bob Beauchamp at 11:54 a.m., Lenhart bowed his head then gave an expression of prayerful thanks while Anderson’s family sat stunned by the jury’s decision. Law enforcement officials at the trial were disappointed in the verdict and the way the evidence was presented. One departing juror verbally criticized the prosecution to officers. Jurors deliberated only just over two hours before their findings of not guilty. For complete coverage of the trial, see the May 5 print edition of The Herald Gazette.
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