One of three defendants in San Luis Obispo County's first-ever multiple jury trial took the stand Tuesday as the trial enters its fourth week.
Joshua Murphy faces the most serious charges — human trafficking of a minor, lewd acts upon a child, and child pornography-related allegations.
On the stand Tuesday, Murphy claimed, “I’ve never pimped a day in my life.”
The alleged victim in this case, "Jazmin Doe," was discovered by members of the county’s Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force who saw an online sex advertisement featuring a female who appeared to be underage.
The prosecution claims the teen was being trafficked and pimped against her will. However, Murphy’s defense claims Jazmin lied about her age on an online dating profile and that Murphy believed she was an adult. As part of his testimony, attorney Addison Steele focused on the context behind messages Murphy sent to Jazmin as well as other women.
This case is a first for San Luis Obispo County, requiring three different juries to try all three defendants.
It's unclear right now whether the two remaining defendants, Tremaine Jones and Heather Huntwill, will also take the stand.
Murphy's testimony took nearly the whole day, with Chief Investigator JT Camp taking up part of Monday and the first part of Tuesday's testimony.
While the District Attorney’s Office is not commenting on the trial until it is over, they have mentioned in the past that “SLO County serves as a natural corridor for human trafficking as well as the Central Valley and Central Coast."
WATCH: How Central Coast authorities are tackling human trafficking
The trial involving 48 jurors is expected to last into late July.
