Jury Renders a Verdict in the Jacob Meyer Trial

The jury trial in Fourth Judicial District Court for a former Sheridan High School Assistant Principal charged with sexual assault in the second degree concluded Tuesday night. Sheridan Media’s Ron Richter has the details.

Day two of the trial included testimony from the two friends that were with the victim and dropped her off at Jacob Meyer’s residence on the night of April 19, 2024, when the sexual assault occurred. Other testimony included Meyer’s ex-adult girlfriend, an agent with the Department of Homeland Security in Casper who performed the extraction of cell phone data of Meyer’s Iphone, and Sheridan Police Department School Resource Office Meagan Phillips, who investigated the case and arrested Meyer on Monday, May 6.

The State rested its case at 2:45 pm. Meyer elected to not take the stand and testify in his defense. Following a short break, District Court Judge Ben Kirven read jury instructions to the jurors and Sheridan County and Prosecuting Attorney Dianna Bennett and Defense Attorney Jeremy Kisling delivered their closing arguments. Bennett, during her closing remarks, posed the question to the jury of why would the victim go through all of this, if this wasn’t true? Bennett said the victim never reported it and school officials only found out about the sexual assault and relationship with Meyer because another student snooped through her phone.

Kisling argued that there were a number of inconsistencies throughout the trial and that the credibility eroded away with what he referred to as “slants” in witness testimony. The evidence portion of the trial concluded and the jury began their deliberations at 4:58 pm. The jury deliberated for less than an hour and came back with a verdict of guilty to the charge of sexual assault in the second degree.

Kisling argued that his client should be allowed bond because he is employed, has not had any bond violations throughout the  case, and that he did not pose a risk or danger to the community. Bennett replied by stating that the report from the Homeland Security agent who performed the data extraction on Meyer’s phone showed a number of hits to various pornography sites that included the word teen, and that there is evidence that Meyer was emailing other students as well.

Judge Kirven, citing the Court’s serious concerns over the public’s safety, revoked Meyer’s bond and remanded him to the custody of the Sheridan County Detention Center pending sentencing. Kirven ordered that a presentence investigation be completed and said that a date for sentencing will be scheduled once the PSI has been completed.

Sexual assault in the second degree is punishable by not less than two years and not more than 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.