Defendant Acquitted of Rape In Houston County

Perry, Georgia: In November 2025, attorneys J. Travis Griffin and P. MacKenzie Miller obtained an acquittal in a rape case pending in Houston County Superior Court.  During a three-day trial, Mr. Griffin and Mrs. Miller showed the jury facts that were not considered by law enforcement and were instrumental in showing the innocence of the Defendant.

The Defendant was home for Thanksgiving break from college, hanging out and eating with family. During this time, a family friend, who was watching the Defendant’s mother’s Yorkshire terrier, lost the dog.

The Defendant went to the location the dog was missing from and began to comb the neighborhood in his car. He was joined by the sister of the woman who lost the dog.  After an hour of searching without result, the Defendant called his mother, reported the dog was lost, and became part of a ten-person search party that included police officers.  The search party went into the early hours of the morning, but the dog was not recovered until several days later.

Several months later, the woman who drove around looking for the dog with the Defendant was accused him of rape.  She alleged that he stopped the car in a cul-de-sac to look for the dog and, when she got out of the car, he brutally raped her in the street.

At trial Mr. Griffin and Mrs. Miller thoroughly cross-examined the State’s witnesses and presented defense evidence that provided a timeline showing the improbability of Defendant’s alleged crime.  Through time-stamped communications, photos, 911 calls, and witness testimony, Hogue Griffin built a formidable defense for the Defendant.

Finally, the Defendant took the stand and testified on his own behalf that the assault did not take place and that his brief time alone with the woman was exclusively spent searching for the lost dog.

The Defendant was acquitted of all charges.