A defense attorney for convicted rapist Jeffrey J. Marsalis claimed that his client had consensual sex with the victim in Sun Valley in 2005, but a jury in Boise didn't buy that story.
Last Friday a jury comprised of two woman and 10 men deliberated for only two hours before finding Marsalis guilty of rape, a crime punishable in Idaho by up to life in prison.
"We're ecstatic with the guilty verdict," said Sun Valley Assistant Police Chief Mike Crawford, who was lead investigator in the case. "We're really proud of the victim that she had the fortitude to stay with it."
The jury wasn't even told during the five-day trial that Marsalis had previous sex crime convictions in Pennsylvania.
"Jeffrey Marsalis' reign of terror is over in Idaho and Philadelphia," The Associated Press quoted Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney Jim Thomas as saying after the verdict. "Date rape is probably the most difficult case that you can have going in, but the victim in this case was extremely willing to come forward and seek justice."
It took the woman three and half years to get that justice. She was only 21 when Marsalis was accused of raping her at his Sun Valley condominium in October 2005. She testified at the trial, and three years ago before a Blaine County grand jury, that she believed Marsalis had slipped her a date rape drug. She had only sketchy recollections of the evening after she started drinking beer with Marsalis at Whiskey Jacques' bar in Ketchum.
Witnesses who saw Marsalis with the woman that evening also testified at the trial and before the grand jury that the woman was incapacitated.
The woman called police after the incident and had a rape kit performed at St. Luke's Wood River Medical Center. Evidence presented during the trial showed that semen found was a DNA match for Marsalis.
Neither Thomas nor defense attorney Douglas Nelson could be reached for comment on Tuesday. Nelson was quoted by The Associated Press during the trial as claiming the sex was consensual.
"(The woman) wakes up in the morning with a terrible hangover," Nelson said. "And I'm guessing that she's not feeling too good about herself. And the worst part is she doesn't even know the guy's last name, and that's not a pretty story to have to call and tell your mom about."
Marsalis remained incarcerated Tuesday in Boise, where the trial was moved after a change of venue was granted in Blaine County. Sentencing was scheduled for June 1.
Marsalis was extradited to Idaho in August from Pennsylvania, where he is serving a 21-year prison sentence for convictions in Philadelphia in 2007 of two counts of sexual assault and one count of unlawful restraint.
Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com
Jeffrey J. Marsalis
