ALEXANDRIA, La. (AP) — A state appeals court overturned the sexual battery conviction of a former Rapides Regional Medical Center nurse accused of performing oral sex on a sedated male patient.

A three-judge panel from the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal unanimously ruled Wednesday that Phillip Wayne Raines did not receive a fair trial when he was convicted in April 2012 because of statements witnesses made during the trial.

A jury deliberated less than an hour before convicting Raines on April 19, 2012, of sexual battery on a 23-year-old male patient who was sedated following an emergency procedure for appendicitis.

The appellate court said Judge Thomas Yeager should have declared a mistrial rather than simply striking from the record portions of Alexandria Police Officer Ronnie Howard's testimony.

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