Photo by Michael Kelly Attorney George Cosenza bends to view video entered into evidence in the trial of his client Ryan Nichols, left, while Judge Randall Burnworth looks on from the bench. The video was simultaneously being seen on a larger screen by a Washington County jury.

MARIETTA — Ryan Nichols escaped conviction in a recent kidnapping and felonious assault case, but on Wednesday the state got another chance to prosecute him as he went on trial for drug possession, drug trafficking and evidence tampering charges.

Nichols, 40, of Vincent was reportedly found passed out at the wheel of a truck, parked in the northbound lane of Congress Road in Belpre Township on Feb. 1, 2016. A Washington County Sheriff’s deputy found methamphetamine in the truck and arrested him.

Nichols stood charged with two fourth-degree felonies and a third-degree felony. The drug involved in the allegations was more than 32 grams of methamphetamine.

Jury selection took three hours Wednesday morning before seating a jury of five women and seven men, with one man and one woman as alternates. Numerous jurors were excused from duty because they said they had prior experience with meth addiction or related crime through family members, friends or acquaintances and indicated they could not hear the case with impartiality.

Nichols had been offered a five-year sentence in exchange for a guilty plea and declined it, his attorney George Cosenza told the court while the jury was out of the room.

Photo by Michael Kelly Attorney George Cosenza stands behind his client Ryan Nichols during jury selection Wednesday morning in the Washington County Courthouse.

The usual penalty range for a third-degree felony is one to three years, and for a fourth-degree felony, six to 18 months.

Washington County Sheriff’s Office Det. Spencer McPeek testified for the prosecution, detailing his arrest of Nichols after discovering a plastic bag of methamphetamine in the bed of the pickup truck. McPeek was a patrol officer for the department at the time of the arrest, and he knew Nichols — the two had graduated in the same class from Warren High School 20 years earlier.

McPeek said he received a call at 6 a.m. Feb. 1, 2016, reporting a truck parked on the right of way, with the driver passed out at the wheel. When he arrived, McPeek testified, he found Nichols in the driver’s seat slumped over the console. He woke him with a tap on the window and as Nichols sat up, McPeek testified, he saw the corner of a plastic bag sticking out of the pocket of the hoodie Nichols was wearing but found nothing when he patted Nichols down.

Nichols was leaning on the tailgate of the truck while being patted down, McPeek said, and he later found the meth in the truck bed, mixed in among building materials and tools.

It had been raining, McPeek said, and everything was wet in the truck bed except the baggie containing what was later indicated by field and lab tests to be meth.

He and his supervisor decided at that point, after Nichols passed a field sobriety test for alcohol, to arrest him in connection with the drugs found in the pickup bed. McPeek said as they were attempting to place handcuffs on him, Nichols escaped even though McPeek had a grip on the hoodie he was wearing.

“He just sort of ran out of it,” McPeek said.

They captured him after a short pursuit. The truck was towed and the cab searched, McPeek said, yielding four plastic baggies, rubber bands, a wallet with $1,394 in cash and some plastic cutlery, among other items.

Cosenza noted in his opening statement to the jury that the truck was old, unreliable and used by several other members of Nichols’ work crew.

“That meth didn’t belong to him,” Cosenza said. “The truck cab was searched, it was a mess, it’s a construction truck, multiple people use it, there were bags, rubber bands, food …. he had cash, that’s not illegal. The bag was found in the back of the truck, no tests were done to tie the bag to Ryan, the only thing to tie this bag to Ryan was that it was found in the bed of the truck.

“The state cannot and did not prove this crime beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The trial continues today at 9 a.m. when the defense is scheduled to cross-examine McPeek.

Nichols was also originally scheduled to go to trial on allegations that he was complicit in the kidnapping and assault of a woman by an acquaintance of his, Jeremy Braun. The state alleged that Nichols allowed Braun to use his house to hold the woman in bondage and repeatedly assault her over a period of three days.

Those charges against Nichols were dismissed Sept. 15 after Braun pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 33 months in prison. Washington County Prosecutor Kevin Rings said Wednesday those charges against Nichols were dismissed because the Braun case had been “resolved” and Nichols “never touched the woman.”

The kidnapping and assault case against Braun wound up Aug. 15 with a six-page guilty plea. In it, Braun admitted to aggravated assault, a fourth-degree felony.

Events in that case began in March when, according to a statement by the victim, Braun became angry about a matter related to his clothing and began assaulting his girlfriend at Nichols’ house in Warren Township. According to the statement, Braun dragged her into the house by her hair, tore off her clothing, threw her into the bathroom, beat her and had sex with her twice. She told investigators she did not refuse his advances for fear of being beaten further.

Braun kept her in the bathroom “for a day or so,” the statement read, then took her out and bound her wrists with a belt. He took her into the yard and struck her in the head with an ax, a gesture apparently intended as a threat that hit her when Braun slipped.

“The victim stated Ryan Nichols observed all this going on. The victim said she begged Ryan Nichols to help her but he refused,” the statement said.

She escaped once but Braun caught her, beat her and returned her to Nichols’ house, then boarded up the back door, the statement said.

After “a couple of days” the victim escaped again and was driven by a neighbor to Belpre Memorial Hospital, where she was treated and filed a report with the sheriff’s office. Braun and Nichols were indicted March 17, although Nichols wasn’t found and arrested until late May when he was located by law enforcement in Wirt County. According to their reports, when found, he hid in a crawl space under a home and then struggled with officers and a dog before being taken into custody.