Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Judge Gunter Hands Wilson Life Sentence For Rape of Woman (cont)

o see much because it was dark.

She also informed the court she did not returned to her home for three months after the attack.

The victim was allowed to step down at 1:40 p.m.

Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigator Scott Clark was called back to the stand, and asked if he could identify the knives in question.

He said the knives were ones given to him by Prescott Police Sgt. Walt DeYoung. DeYoung, he said, had obtained the knives from a family member who found them at the house, along with the panties.

The state rested its case at 1:45 p.m., with Gunter calling for a recess at the request of the defense.

Court reconvened at 2:30 p.m., with Gunter giving the jury its instructions.

Once the instructions were complete, Gunter asked the defense to begin its part of the trial. Woods had nothing to offer.

At this point, closing arguments were made.

Haltom, for the prosecution, thanked the jury for its patience.

He told them one hair linked Wilson to the rape of this woman, with it being vacuumed from the love seat in her home after the attack.

Haltom reminded the jury he had warned them about Woodley, who was an accomplice in the case.

He reminded the jury DNA analysis is a new thing, but likened it to genetic fingerprinting. DNA, he said, is the building blocks of life, with all people having different DNA structures.

The jury was reminded how Wilson and Woodley's DNA samples compared to those found on evidence taken from the crime scene.

Haltom said the scientific evidence alone was enough for the jury to return with a guilty verdict, without the testimony of Woodley.

Woods asked the jury to seriously consider the evidence presented. There was a lot of testimony, he said, but not much in the way of evidence.

The officers, he said, testified to going to the scene, making sure the victim was cared for and then protecting the crime scene.

The only evidence presented, he said, was Woodley's testimony. This, Woods told the jury, was the only link provided putting Wilson at the scene.

The testimony from the experts did not name Wilson as being involved. One chance in 210,000 is not very specific, he said of the DNA evidence.

Woods said the victim's testimony also didn't specifically name Wilson as one of the men who raped her.

The state, he continued, knew Woodley was not a credible witness because he lied twice.

Woods told the jury someone did break into the victim's home and did those terrible things to her, but all she could tell authorities a few hours later was it was two black males, one 5-3 and the other about 5-6, but was unable to describe what either looked like.

"You can't leave your common sense at home," Woods said. "We need to find the culprits and bring them to justice. We don't need to say two black males did it and make no attempt to look for the one's 5-3 and 5-6."

He reminded the court the victim had heard one of the two saying the $50 they had stolen would get them to Little Rock. Woods said the real culprits may be in Little Rock at this time.

"DeChay Wilson," he said, "is not guilty of any of the counts. I'm asking you to make a rational decision."

Once Woods finished his summation, Rodgers took over for the state.

He again went through the litany of how the crime occurred and what was done to the victim.

"There is no doubt in my mind," he said, "Woodley's testimony is enough (for a conviction). The tape he gave on April 24, 1996, of the events of April 20 (named Wilson as his accomplice), and when he pled guilty (Jan. 16, 1997) he named Wilson again.

"Then he lied trying to cover for DeChay Wilson, but came out and told the truth. We also have corroborating evidence," he told the jury.

"Even if we had no statement from Woodley, we have enough (evidence) to convict Wilson.

"She testified two black males did it. Hair samples, the rape kit and slip all showed Wilson to be there. One hair matched his -- pubic hair found at her home was Wilson's."

This, he said, was enough to independently establish Wilson as being in the home and one of two men who raped the elderly victim.

At 3:41 p.m., the jury left the court room and began deliberating. It returned at 4:00 with guilty verdicts on all four counts.

Then it was time for the sentencing phase of the trial. Both sides gave arguments as to why and Woodley should be sentenced. The state argued he should get life for the rape, while the defense counsel pled for leniency.

The jury began its second deliberation at 4:55 p.m., returning at 5:30 to ask if it had already been determined whether or not the sentences would be concurrent or consecutive. They were told no by Gunter, and returned to the jury room.

About two hours later, they returned with their verdicts. The jury recommended Wilson be given one year in the county jail for theft of property, and 30 years for residential burglary.

However, the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision on the two class Y felonies, aggravated robbery and rape. The sentence for these two crimes was left up to Gunter, who handed down life for the rape and 60 years for aggravated robbery, with these two sentences to run consecutively.

Prior to the trial, though, Wilson's parents wrote letters to the Picayune stating their son had been misrepresented.

According to the letters, Rodgers gave their son's attorney papers in court on Jan. 16, which the lawyer had not previously been aware of or read.

In addition, they said the attorney wanted Wilson to agree to a plea bargain since taking the case.

In a second letter, the Wilson's wrote their son had been taken to Hempstead County on Jan. 31, and did not know the reason why.

Once there, the letter states, he met with Judge Gunter, Rodgers and Woods.

The parents did not learn of this event until later.