Retrail For St. Cloud Man

A St. Cloud man accused of raping a woman he hired as a housekeeper has withdrawn his demand for a speedy trial. A Stearns County judge has now rescheduled the criminal sexual conduct trial of 56-year-old Marquell Goree for January. Goree is standing trial again after a judge vacated his guilty verdict last June. The judge threw out the verdict after a juror failed to disclose that they were a victim of sexual assault. The judge vacated the conviction after learning from a member of the jury that another juror answered dishonestly about whether she was a victim of sexual assault, was moved by partiality, and that if the true facts were known, it would have supported striking the juror for cause. The court concluded that Goree was denied an impartial jury and is entitled to a new trial. Goree's trial was scheduled to begin this month, but was reset after Goree's speedy trial demand was withdrawn. He's now scheduled to have his retrial from January 26th through January 29th. A second case accusing Goree of a similar incident in 2015 is still making its way through the court system.