Gay-For-Pay Porn Star Kurt Wild Found Not Guilty Of Assault, Kidnapping, And Threatening To Murder Wife
Kurt Wild finally received some good news last month, as the former gay-for-pay porn star was found not guilty of multiple felony charges after being arrested in 2019 for threatening to murder his wife in front of their children.
As Str8UpGayPorn reported exclusively back in 2019, Wild—a.k.a. Calvin Cornelius—was arrested in Houston, Missouri following an alleged assault on his wife in the couple’s home, and he was charged with felony armed criminal action, kidnapping, domestic assault, and unlawful use of a weapon.
According to the Texas County Sheriff, Wild had threatened to slit his wife’s throat, grabbed her by the hair, and wielded a knife in front of three of the couple’s children (Wild has seven children in total), but a jury has now found the former BrokeStraightBoy and Tyra Banks Show star not guilty on all four charges, according to Wild’s lawyer.
Wild’s lawyer, Christopher Swatosh (above left, pictured with Wild and a member of his defense team), recently wrote a lengthy Facebook post detailing the arrest, the jurors, the trial, chicken enchilada dinners from a Mexican restaurant, an historic ice storm in Missouri, and the eventual not guilty verdict. Here is Swatosh’s February 15th post in its entirety:
Thank you to the 12 jurors in Texas County this past week who sat through a 3 day jury trial in re: State vs Calvin Cornelius. Thank you for taking time from your loved ones, for taking time from your work, and for your patience and your deliberations during this trial. And thank you for deciding the facts in favor of Mr. Cornelius by exonerating him and finding him not guilty on all charges.
Mr. Cornelius is originally from Ava, Missouri. He has lived in Cabool, Missouri the past 15 plus years with his wife and seven children. The past 18 months has been a living nightmare for Mr. Cornelius. Despite committing no crime, Mr. Cornelius was arrested at his home on the morning of July 16, 2019. Mr. Cornelius was awoken from his sleep by two Texas County deputies. Cornelius was so startled he came to the door in his boxers. Cornelius was immediately yanked out of the doorway at gunpoint, cuffed, arrested and transported to the Texas County jail, without any attempt by law enforcement to corroborate the unfounded allegations.
Calvin Cornelius endured months of incarceration and at one point a bond of one million dollars. Mr. Cornelius never had a prior alcohol offense, never had a prior drug offense and never, ever faced so much as a felony arrest. However, after July 16, 2019 he was thereafter treated as though he was guilty of these heinous allegations. Mr. Cornelius faced ridicule from strangers, faced contempt and hatred by his accusers, and faced nasty media headlines, salacious TV reports and biased radio reports. So much for the idea that a person is innocent until proven guilty by a jury of one’s peers?
Mr. Cornelius was charged with 1) armed criminal action, 2) Domestic Assault 1st degree, 3) Kidnapping 2nd degree and 4) Unlawful use of a weapon– all of these are felonies.
The jury received the case Wednesday morning, after closing arguments. The jury could have convicted Calvin of 1, 2, 3 or all 4 serious felonies. If so, Calvin faced upwards of 25 or more years in prison. The jury also had the option of finding Calvin guilty of 3 lesser charges, in lieu of the felonies. There are no lesser charges for armed criminal action and no lesser charges of Unlawful use of a weapon. But the jury considered domestic assault 3rd degree, a class E felony and domestic assault 4th degree, a misdemeanor. The jury also had the option to find Calvin guilty of Kidnapping 3rd degree, which is also a misdemeanor.
The jury returned their verdict after 85 minutes of deliberations at 12:47pm, and found Calvin Cornelius NOT GUILTY of all the charges.
The trial was originally scheduled to start Thursday February 4th, but because of complications and weather, we started Monday February 9th. The weather was so bad that on Wednesday February 11th, the judge ordered the Texas County Sheriff’s office to pick one of the jurors up. One of the jurors was stuck in ice, in Cabool, and couldn’t get out. We didn’t have any alternates at that point and had to have our 12th juror.
I want to say thank you to Judge John Beger, a 25th Judicial Circuit Court Judge, for helping us conduct this trial in the middle of Missouri’s worst ice storm in the last 50 years, and in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. Judge Beger was thoughtful, calm and pleasant, and for that I am grateful.
I also want to say thank you to the Texas County Circuit Clerk’s office for their accommodations while selecting the jurors at the Houston storm shelter and for all their kind gestures during trial.
Additionally, two deputies went out of their way to help everyone involved. Deputy Kidwell and Deputy Jeremy Wink demonstrated a calm, measured and polite demeanor throughout this trial, and offered to help with getting equipment loaded and unloaded during the snow and ice storm. Thank you both.
Thank you to my wife, Marcella Swatosh, for bringing us dinner Tuesday night from the El Imperial Mexican restaurant. This restaurant is one of my favorite, but moreover, we had worked from 4:30pm until 8pm on the jury instructions and after a full day of trial, I was exhausted to say the least. Jury instructions are cumbersome and extremely detailed. However, jury instructions are critically important, because they instruct the jury on the law. For example, the instructions define phrases like “beyond a reasonable doubt,” “knowingly,” and “serious physical injury.” Marcella brought Matt and I chicken enchiladas at 8:30pm and it made my evening much smoother and calmer. Thank you Marcella!
Thank you to Danielle Smith, my chief paralegal, and Hannah Kabage, my legal assistant, for keeping the office on track, holding the fort down and giving me time to breathe before returning.
And last, but not least, thanks so much to Matthew Overcast. Matt is a 3rd year law student and an intern in my law office. Matt was fantastic this past week- he put his school work, wife and kids on hold to assist with the trial for a full week! He performed the research on our “reverse-Brady” motions, which are motions requesting that the court prohibit the government from using late and untimely (the night before trial at 8:30pm) evidence, and he assisted with jury selection, technology and arguments. Thank you Matt!
Also, thanks to Calvin Cornelius for having the guts to turn down a probation offer and for choosing me to represent you.
This assault and kidnapping case against Wild was removed from the Texas County judicial website sometime over the last year (likely because children were involved), so Str8Up has been unable to view the docket that would show trial proceedings and the not guilty verdict.
The status of another case that was filed against Wild one year ago, in which he was arrested and charged with raping a 10-year-old girl, is not known at this time, as it too has been removed from the Texas County court site. It may have been dropped or, similar to the other case, it may not be viewable due to the alleged victim being a minor. Str8Up has reached out to Wild lawyer’s for clarification, and this story will be updated as information becomes available.
