Rape suspect found not guilty after showing penis in court
No hung jury here.
The Connecticut sex-assault suspect who pulled his penis out in court to prove it didn’t match his accuser’s description was found not guilty Friday.
Jurors in New Haven cleared Desmond James, 26, of three counts of sexual assault — two days after he showed in the flesh that he doesn’t fit the accuser’s story of being raped by a black man whose junk is lighter than the rest of his skin.
“If it’s not the light one, it’s not the right one,” his lawyer, Todd Bussert, quipped to The Post after the verdict.
The victim had picked James out of a photo lineup after reporting that she was raped while walking home one night in 2012 by a “dark-skinned black male with big lips and black-people hair,” Busser said.
“There were a number of troubling aspects in terms of the allegation. It evoked negative racial stereotypes,” he said. “We felt in general that it didn’t describe our client.”
But the biggest mismatch was the description of the attacker’s private parts.
So the only evidence that Busser offered to support James’ innocence was to have his client stand in the middle of the court room with his pants down and his penis out.
The exhibit was especially eyebrow-raising because the judge didn’t warn the jurors about what they were about to see – and some stunned onlookers averted their eyes as James walked in and silently dropped trou, witnesses say.
The ballsy testimony was “embarrassing” for James — especially because court workers suddenly filled the room to see the show — but worth it in the end, the lawyer said.
“If your liberty is at stake, he was willing to do that,” Bussert said.
It didn’t get James out of serving hard time, however — he’s already doing 65 years behind bars for breaking into a house and raping a 10-year-old girl, according to records.
No hung jury here.
The Connecticut sex-assault suspect who pulled his penis out in court to prove it didn’t match his accuser’s description was found not guilty Friday.
Jurors in New Haven cleared Desmond James, 26, of three counts of sexual assault — two days after he showed in the flesh that he doesn’t fit the accuser’s story of being raped by a black man whose junk is lighter than the rest of his skin.
“If it’s not the light one, it’s not the right one,” his lawyer, Todd Bussert, quipped to The Post after the verdict.
The victim had picked James out of a photo lineup after reporting that she was raped while walking home one night in 2012 by a “dark-skinned black male with big lips and black-people hair,” Busser said.
“There were a number of troubling aspects in terms of the allegation. It evoked negative racial stereotypes,” he said. “We felt in general that it didn’t describe our client.”
But the biggest mismatch was the description of the attacker’s private parts.
So the only evidence that Busser offered to support James’ innocence was to have his client stand in the middle of the court room with his pants down and his penis out.
The exhibit was especially eyebrow-raising because the judge didn’t warn the jurors about what they were about to see – and some stunned onlookers averted their eyes as James walked in and silently dropped trou, witnesses say.
The ballsy testimony was “embarrassing” for James — especially because court workers suddenly filled the room to see the show — but worth it in the end, the lawyer said.
“If your liberty is at stake, he was willing to do that,” Bussert said.
It didn’t get James out of serving hard time, however — he’s already doing 65 years behind bars for breaking into a house and raping a 10-year-old girl, according to records.
Comment