BEDFORD – Jury selection begins today in Lawrence County Superior Court I in a rape case against Tracy Gist. Judge John Plummer III is presiding. Prosecutor Sam Arp is presenting the case for the state. Gist is being represented by public defenders Bruce Andis and Bryan Keith Bullock.
Police arrested then 34-year-old Tracy Gist, of 817 17th St., at 11:30 p.m. on January 22, 2020. Gist also faces a charge of being a habitual offender. The trial is scheduled for four days.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed by Bedford Police Department Detective Kevin Jones, the incident happened during the early morning hours of December 8, 2019.
At 1:55 a.m. officers went to Shorty’s Den on 7th Street after a report of a sexual assault.
When police arrived they found Gist in the parking lot. He told the police he didn’t initially believe anything had happened but thought maybe something did because the victim’s friend called the police.
The victim who was intoxicated told police she was unsure what happened and didn’t know what to do. Police advised the victim about her options.
On December 17th the woman went to the Bedford Police Department wanting to file charges against Gist.
The woman told police she was at Shorty’s and she was very intoxicated and had to be carried out of the bar. Gist helped the woman get outside. Gist placed her face down in the rear driver’s side of the victim’s friend’s car. The friend said she had left her friend in the vehicle but returned to check on her about 15 minutes later and found Gist with his pants down raping her friend. The friend confronted Gist who pulled up his pants and left. The victim was found partially unclothed.
The victim could not remember what happened because of her level of intoxication.
