BY TOM O'NEILL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
BATAVIA --
The Withamsville chiropractor whose rape trial ended in a hung jury last month now faces a second trial involving a reduced charge.
Nicholas Driever, 56, was indicted this week by a Clermont County grand jury on a charge of gross sexual imposition, a lesser felony. He also will face the rape charge again, County Prosecutor Don White said Thursday.
Mr. Driever was released on bond after the first trial. He served as his own attorney before Judge William Walker in Clermont County Common Pleas Court. But the judge appointed a defense attorney, Marshall McCachran, to oversee Mr. Driever's defense in that trial. He is accused of assaulting a 22-year-old Owensville woman whom he was treating for injuries suffered in a car crash. The woman, whose name The Cincinnati Enquirer -->is not publishing because of the nature of the charges, testified he touched her genitals during muscle-reflex treatment.
Prosecutor Greg Chapman in his closing argument focused on the legal definition of rape and force, and "the absolutely unrebutted testimony of (the woman)." Sources say the seven-man, five-woman jury's vote was evenly split.
Mr. White later said that the jury might have been stuck on legal distinctions and that the gross sexual imposition charge also is appropriate.
In his closing argument, Mr. Driever said that treatments involving contact with the pubic area are routine in about a third of the 80 patients he sees a week.
Mr. Driever demonstrated what he said was proper procedure during his questioning of a procession of defense witnesses, as well as the woman. Attorneys for both sides said the chiropractor's strategy was an interesting one. By serving as his own attorney and giving the demonstrations in the form of questions, he was able to make his case to the jury without subjecting himself to cross-examination. He did not testify.
The new trial has been set for Aug. 31.
