Man acquitted of most serious charges in Skateworks rape

A Baltimore County man accused in a gang rape at a Woodlawn roller rink was acquitted Monday morning of the most serious charges against him, but still faces two counts on which the judge declared a mistrial after the jury said they were “hopelessly deadlocked.”

Davon Perry, 26, who was living in Pikesville before he was arrested in August 2010, showed no emotion when the seven-woman, five-man jury announced the verdict after about seven hours of deliberation that began Friday in Baltimore County Circuit Court. He was found not guilty of two counts of second degree rape in the alleged attack on a 12-year-old girl at Skateworks.

Still remaining from the original 29 counts are two charges of second degree sexual assault, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Originally, Perry faced first degree rape and sexual offense counts that carried a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Last week prosecutors dropped and Judge Mickey J. Norman dismissed all but four counts.

Assistant State’s Attorney Stephanie Porter, who has led the prosecution, said she could not comment Monday because there were still charges pending against Perry, who remains at the Baltimore County Detention Center, where he’s been held since his arrest. She said there is no deadline on when the state has to decide how to proceed on the remaining counts.

Perry’s lawyer, Roland Brown, said on Monday that the state failed to prove its case “beyond a reasonable doubt.” He mentioned specifically the lack of DNA evidence against Perry and questions about the credibility of two key witnesses: the girl and a teenage boy who was one of three males originally charged in the case.

“She said she could have made a mistake in identification,” Brown said, referring to the girl’s testimony during the five-day trial. Regardless of how the state “cleaned it up, that’s reasonable doubt.”

The Baltimore City girl, who is now 13, said at one point on the stand that she might have been mistaken about the identification of a man shown in surveillance video who was near the room where the assault allegedly occurred, but it was not clear if she was referring to Perry or to another man. On a question from the prosecutor, she reaffirmed the identification of Perry as the third person who assaulted her that night.

Tracey W. Hankins, a 16-year-old from the county who was originally charged as an adult in the case, testified last week that Perry was in the room with the girl that night. He also acknowledged that he gave different stories to police at different times.

“Tracey Hankins admitted he lied to the police twice,” Brown said in an interview on Monday.

Hankins’ case was moved to the juvenile justice system in 2010 and prosecutors could not comment on the outcome. He testified that he is now in 10th grade at a local high school. A third defendant, Kadeem R. Santiful, 19, pleaded guilty last year to a second degree sex offense and is scheduled to be sentenced later this month.

DNA evidence from Hankins and Santiful was found in an examination of the girl’s body and clothing, but not from Perry. Prosecutors told the jury that could happen if Perry had a vasectomy or had used a condom when he assaulted the girl.

Brown said those explanations were “far-fetched, outlandish, and they weren’t proven.”

arthur.hirsch@baltsun.com

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    Posted by on Jan 9 2012. Filed under Top Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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