THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 22, 1997 TAG: 9701220377
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 35 lines
Kerri Charity, the man who became known as the North End rapist for his assaults on Virginia Beach women, will not be retried on a charge that he raped a woman jogger at Seashore State Park on Oct. 11, 1993.
Prosecutors said one reason they will not retry him is that in January 1995 he was convicted of charges that eventually netted him a sentence of seven life terms plus 80 years in prison.
Charity, 25, was first tried on the Seashore State Park charge in June. That trial, which lasted two weeks, ended in a mistrial when four jurors voted for acquittal despite DNA evidence that prosecutors said tied Charity to the rape and testimony from the victim that identified Charity as the rapist.
Prosecutors announced their plans not to retry Charity in Virginia Beach Circuit Court Monday.
Prosecutor Pam Albert said several factors were considered in arriving at the decision not to retry Charity. They included the length of the first trial, the evidence in the case, the number of witnesses and the fact that Charity has been convicted of raping four women.
After the victim was consulted, Albert said, ``We felt this was the best disposition of this particular charge.''
Charity still faces another rape prosecution. Prosecutor Janee Joslin said Monday that trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 26. This charge does not involve DNA evidence, Joslin said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Kerri Charity was convicted in January 1995 of charges that netted
him a sentence of seven life terms plus 80 years.
KEYWORDS: RAPE SEX CRIME SENTENCING