Jury has questions for judge during Steven Powell voyeurism trial deliberation

Closing arguments in the voyeurism trial of Steven Powell,
the father-in-law of Susan Powell who disappeared
nearly three years ago in Utah, are finished and now the
jury is deliberating.

“A criminal case is about what has been proved, it’s not
about what you feel,” Powell’s defense said in closing
arguments.

By the end of the day on Tuesday, the jury hadn’t reached a decision, and instead, the jurors asked the judge whether all the items found in boxes in Steven Powell’s bedroom were his.

The question followed closing arguments in which a prosecutor said Powell lurked in the shadows of his bedroom to capture nude images of young girls who lived next door.

Prosecutors said the images and others used as a basis for the charges were found on a disc in Powell’s bedroom.

A defense attorney countered that there was reasonable doubt as to whether Powell took the images.

Jurors indicated they may have been considering reasonable doubt when they sent their question to the judge Tuesday afternoon.

Defense attorneys had noted that authorities did not say whether Powell’s fingerprints were on the disc and said they never explored whether the bedroom door was locked. The judge told jurors that he could not answer the question and told them to keep deliberating.

The jury later asked to review the disc.

Powell faces a standard sentence of around four years if
convicted, but aggravating factors could result in a
longer term.

He faces 14 voyeurism counts, including accusations that
he filmed two girls using their bathroom next door to his
home in Puyallup.

The images were discovered by investigators searching his
home last summer for clues in the disappearance of Susan
Powell.

Testimony in Steve Powell’s voyeurism trial came to an
abrupt end Monday as prosecutors rested their case and
defense attorneys declined to call their own witnesses.

The final witnesses included the lead Utah detective in the 2009 disappearance of Powell’s daughter-in-law, Susan.

He described the evidence against Steven Powell found at
Powell’s home last summer. The detective confirmed that
there were hundreds of thousands of files, with the
majority of images being of a sexually suggestive nature.

Susan Powell’s name was barely uttered in court,
much to the disappointment of Chuck Cox, Susan’s father,
who has attended every day of the trial.

References to Steven Powell’s son Josh killing himself and his two sons in February at a home in Graham were also limited.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.