After hearing testimony from defendant Montaret Davis and listening to closing arguments yesterday, a six-man, six-woman jury deliberated for three hours on charges of rape and armed robbery. They will continue to consider the case against Davis today.
Davis faces 16 felony charges, including rape, robbery, forcible sodomy and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony following his Oct. 5 arrest for an Aug. 26 rape and armed robbery in the home of a female University student as her male friend was held at gunpoint.
The trial began Monday, and continued yesterday with the prosecution's continued focus on forensic evidence with three forensic science experts taking the stand. But Davis' testimony was the focal point of yesterday's proceedings.
After Davis' girlfriend and an Outback Lodge employee testified on his behalf, Davis calmly gave his account of what happened in the early morning of Aug. 26, contradicting the two victims' previous testimonies.
Davis described to the jury his version of events on the evening of Aug. 25 - his birthday. Davis testified that he was at a party where he drank a fair amount of alcohol and smoked marijuana. He said he then received a phone call from a female University student who told him they had met at a fraternity party in 1998. He said she wanted to buy marijuana from him. He contended he made plans to meet the woman at the Outback Lodge later that evening. Davis said the woman called back later to say she could not make it and to meet her at her house on 17th Street.
He testified the woman was on the porch and led him inside, after calling him by his nickname, "Friday." Davis said the woman was unable to pay for the marijuana so they made an arrangement that she would pay for the deal with sex. He testified they then had consensual sex with a condom. But Commonwealth Attorney David Chapman recalled Detective M.R. Bishop and asked if there was a condom found at the scene, to which the detective replied "no."
Davis said he never met the other alleged victim in the case and that he did not carry a gun with him. The two defense witnesses testified that they did not know Davis to carry a gun.
Chapman, in his cross-examination of Davis, questioned why Davis initially had denied being at the scene when first questioned by police.
Davis said he did not know which night the police were questioning him about.
In his closing statement, Chapman argued that Davis settled on his "sex for drugs defense" after his first two plans - an alibi with Davis' girlfriend and further DNA testing - fell through. Chapman also said the defense never asked the female victim if she knew someone named "Friday," thereby weakening their case.
Defense attorney Lloyd J. Snook III emphasized that the burden of proof lies with the prosecution. He argued that the prosecution's case rested on inconsistencies and that the victims' testimonies not only contradicted each other, but were contradicted by physical evidence. Snook moved to strike the charges of attempted robbery and the use of a firearm in the commission of attempted robbery. Judge Joseph F. Spinella struck down the two charges.
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