THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 2, 1995 TAG: 9502020412
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
Jurors will begin deliberating today in the case of Kerri Charity, accused of being the so-called ``North End serial rapist.''
They must decide whether to believe Charity's parents, who say the defendant was celebrating his father's birthday the night of one of the rapes, or scientists who say DNA recovered from a crime scene that night matches Charity.
In closing arguments Wednesday, defense attorney David Baugh and prosecutors Pamela Albert and Albert Alberi challenged jurors to weigh the evidence wisely and carefully and not be swayed by the other side's manipulation.
The defense painted Charity as a victim of misidentification; the prosecution depicted him as a cruel, tormenting woman-hater.
The defense described a birthday party that Charity's father vividly remembered because Charity brought along his newborn child. The prosecution described parents so horrified by the possibility of their son's cruelty that they had willed themselves into believing he had been with them.
``This is a man who has antipathy and antagonism towards women and derives satisfaction from stalking them, subduing them, engaging in a sexual act with them and escaping,'' Alberi said. ``He is secretive and private, and it should surprise no one that those around Kerri Charity would not know it and would not want to know it.''
Defense attorney Baugh told the jury that he agreed with Alberi's assessment of the rapist - but that the rapist was not Charity.
``The man who did this is insecure, bigoted and has serious sexual problems,'' Baugh said. ``He despised these women and degraded them. The act degraded them. The positions degraded them. But Mr. Charity has no history of this. His girlfriend is Caucasian. Does this person possess that which is required to do these acts? No!''
Charity, 24, is standing trial for four sexual assaults near the Oceanfront. He also is charged in a fifth assault.
All five were linked in what became known as the North End serial rape case, though only two of the attacks occurred in the exclusive North End.
Prosecutor Pamela Albert reviewed for the jury Wednesday evidence linking Charity to the case, including DNA; descriptions of the suspect; strikingly similar methods of attack; witnesses who placed Charity near the scene of two attacks; and police officers' unsuccessful pursuit of Charity away from the scene of one of the rapes two days before his arrest.
Baugh reviewed Charity's alibi for one of the rapes and reminded jurors that DNA ultimately can only exclude a suspect, not unequivocally prove guilt.
``This is a case of science vs. common human experience,'' Baugh said. ``If you don't know who to believe, you have to acquit. DNA is similar in two of the rapes, but you know where he was that night. He could not have committed this rape. It's that simple.''
Prosecutors told jurors that the statistical possibility of DNA coming from anyone but Charity - 1 in 9 million by the most conservative estimates - is so small that it essentially does exclude nearly everyone else.
Albert reviewed how careful the attacker was to remove fingerprints, to wipe away semen and to avoid letting victims see his face. And she reminded them of the mistakes that led to the arrest of Charity.
How, she alleged, Charity stayed to finish raping a woman even after a neighbor knew there was trouble. How, she alleged, he allowed himself to be seen by police jumping off the balcony, and how, she said, he did not successfully remove all DNA evidence from his victims.
``This man invaded the safety of his victim's lives, the sanctity of their residence and the sanctity of their bodies,'' Albert said. ``That is why we must care. . . . We are in the presence of a person capable of doing horrible things. But he got very confident, very bold and he made some mistakes.''
KEYWORDS: RAPE TRIAL SERIAL RAPIST by CNB