Albert Wilson is getting a new trial.
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The former University of Kansas student was accused of raping a teenager in 2016 by a mostly female and all-white jury. He was initially sentenced to 12 years behind bars but on Tuesday a Douglas County District Court judge ordered a new trial.
The story made headlines due to the help of celebrities like Meek Mill and Kim Kardashian tweeting about it, per WOL news.
“No forensic evidence that a rape even happened but the testimony from a white girl to a Black kids word is a case closer by far in America! Somebody help this kid that’s a shame!” tweeted Meek.
Wilson and the alleged victim met at a campus bar in Lawrence, Kansas, though both were underage. Wilson was 20 and unbeknownst to him, the young woman was 17. Witnesses say they saw them kissing in the bar then they left together for Wilson’s place. There, she alleged he forcibly raped her and afterward walked her back to the bar.
The girl claims the couple had sex despite forensic evidence that no semen was found in her vagina, though that does not always mean a rape didn’t occur, prosecutors argued in the first trial.
The unnamed teen went to the hospital to report the rape the next day. During the trial, Wilson claimed he was innocent and said they never had sex, but was ultimately convicted.
Wilson was able to get a new trail based on ineffective assistance of counsel by his trial attorney, Forrest Lowry, per LJ World.
Wilson’s next court date is March 23.
Judge Sally Pokorny agreed to the new trial due to thousands of text messages that had not been used as evidence that could have impacted the jury.
“The court’s confidence in the jury’s verdict is undermined by Mr. Lowry’s failure to review text messages,” said Pokorny. “It is my firm belief that if a jury knew of the information contained in the 2,000 text messages taken from the victim’s phone, there is a substantial likelihood the outcome of this case would have been different.”
As Wilson looks forward to a new trial, former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin is requesting a trial delay.
As reported by theGrio, in the wake of the announcement that the city of Minneapolis has settled the civil suit filed by the family of George Floyd, lawyers for former officer Chauvin have asked for a trial delay.
Attorney Eric Nelson told the court he is “gravely concerned” that the announcement of the $27M settlement is “incredibly prejudicial.”
“It’s amazing to me, they had a press conference on Friday, where the mayor of Minneapolis, on stage with city council, and they’re using very, what I would say very well-designed terminology. ‘The unanimous decision of the city council,’ for example. It just goes straight to the heart of the dangers of pretrial publicity,” he said in court.
Nelson asked for a delay of the trial or the opportunity to re-question jurors.
Judge Peter Cahill said he would call back the seven people already selected to serve on the jury to allow Nelson to question them about their opinion on the settlement.
“It’s unfortunate, and I wish they hadn’t done it, but I don’t sense any evil intent on the timing,” Cahill said, echoing the sentiment of the prosecution, which pushed back against the defense’s delay tactics.
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The evidence that the settlement may have influenced potential jurors was evident Monday morning when one juror said that she “almost gasped” when she heard the amount, according to a report by CNN.
Additional reporting by Biba Adams
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