CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Kanawha County jury found today that former State Police trooper Derek Snavely didn't force a woman to have sex with him in November 2008.

Charleston resident Julie Fato sued Snavely for damages from the incident. The jury, made up of two men and four women, awarded Fato nothing. They said she consented to the sexual encounter with Snavely.

"I'm just very pleased," Snavely said after the jury was dismissed. "I think the jury did a great job examining all the facts of the case."

Snavely said Fato's lawyers offered a settlement, but that he pushed to get the matter to a jury. He said it was very hard waiting more than two years to get his side of the story out.

Snavely also apologized to his family and the State Police for what he did that night with Fato.

"The worst part is how difficult this was on my family and friends... I'm going home very happy," he said.

After the verdict, Fato said she thought Wednesday that the jury might side with Snavely. She maintained that she didn't want money - she wanted justice.

"Why would I have wanted my name dragged in the mud through the newspapers, like I have mental problems, like I'm a slut? I'm more upset about that than anything," she said. "I can't believe that state troopers are not held to a higher standard."

Fato said she was offended that she was painted in the trial as the aggressor.

"He gets by with this. They could have set some sort of precedent for state troopers and now they know they can get by with everything," she said.

Although disappointed, Fato lawyer Mike Clifford said, "The jury did their job and they were a fair jury, an attentive jury, and we accept the verdict," he said.

Clifford, who has represented clients in numerous cases against police officers in recent years, said the verdict would not give him hesitation in taking a similar case.

"Each case sits on its own merits," he said. "It's rather obvious that the jury felt that the plaintiff in this case did in fact consent. That's not necessarily going to be the case in others."

The jury deliberated for several hours on Thursday before giving the verdict. On Thursday afternoon, they asked to see the videos from that evening again.

Both sides agree that Fato left a Charleston bar with a man early on Nov. 16, 2008, and that Snavely pulled her over in Jefferson because he suspected she was driving drunk. Fato said Snavely followed her home and forced her to have sex; he said she initiated the sexual encounter.

In his closing argument Thursday, Lonnie Simmons, one of Fato's lawyers, argued that the entire time Fato was with Snavely, she was in a position where she could be arrested and didn't feel she could refuse to do anything he said.

Simmons pointed out that Snavely turned off his camera as Fato got into his car after her field sobriety tests.

"Think about that circumstance. When she walked to the card, she was scared," Simmons said. "She thinks she flunked those tests."

Simmons also pointed out that while the State Police found fault with Snavely's actions, he is now police chief in Hinton.

"He really needs to be held accountable and hasn't been held accountable," Simmons said. "This is something you have the power to do. ... You are the conscience of this community."

Snavely's lawyer, Lou Ann Cyrus, said the sex between Fato and Snavely was completely consensual. She reminded the jury about all the conflicting statements Fato gave about that evening.

For example, in a previous deposition, Fato gave some details about a second, more secluded spot where she and Snavely went. At trial, Fato said she didn't remember anything about the second stop.

"She had so many conflicting statements I don't know what her position is," Cyrus said. "I can't keep up."

She said when Fato was alone in her car and driving to her house, she could have called for help. Instead, she called her roommates and told them she was brining a state trooper home.

"If [Snavely] wanted to force himself on her there is no way on God's green earth he would have taken her to a location with other people," Cyrus said.

The husband of the friend with whom Fato was staying had set up video equipment that recorded part of the night's events. Clifford, who addressed the jury last, said the defense's implication that part of the videotape was missing, where Snavely left and Fato escorted him out, was wrong.

"I didn't care what was on that tape because it showed Mr. Snavely going into her room in uniform," Clifford said. "God bless Jason Knapp for having that video, because if not for that [Snavely] would still be a police officer, pulling women over on Route 60. ... He was in full uniform with his gun, with his mace, with his handcuffs. You tell me whether [Fato felt she could say no]."

The trial began Monday in Kanawha Circuit Judge James C. Stucky's courtroom.

Reach Gary Harki at gha...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5163.