Judge denies new trial, reconsideration of sentence for convicted Alexandria rapist
A Rapides Parish judge has denied a new trial for a convicted rapist and also has denied a bid to reconsider his 10-year sentence.
Antonio Demetrius Jones, 49, was convicted by a Rapides Parish jury on two counts of third-degree rape Nov. 17, 2022.
The victim, who testified against him, was acting Jan. 13, 2021, as an informant for the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office when Jones forced her to perform oral sex on him twice while she tried to buy meth from him.
The victim was wired to record video and audio, which Jones missed when he searched her. But the equipment wasn't able to relay what was happening in real time to detectives who were stationed outside Jones' Texas Avenue house.
The victim reported what happened after leaving the home, and Jones was arrested later the same day.
During the trial, jurors watched the video of the rapes. Some had difficulty watching it because of its graphic content. One covered her eyes at times, while another looked away as the victim repeatedly tried to refuse Jones and asked him to stop.
Jones' attorney, Phillip Robinson, had asked for a mistrial because he said multiple jurors didn't watch the video. Ninth Judicial District Court Judge Chris Hazel, who presided over the trial, denied that.
Robinson filed a motion seeking a new trial after Jones' conviction.
Rapides Parish Assistant District Attorney Brian Cespiva also filed a motion to have Jones' sentence reconsidered, saying the 10 years he received "deprecates the seriousness of the defendant's crime."
Cespiva had asked Hazel to sentence Jones to the maximum, 25 years, and to have the sentences served consecutively, meaning Jones would have been sentenced to 50 years. Without giving his reasons, Hazel sentenced Jones to two 10-year sentences to be served concurrently.
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Hazel rotated to the court's civil division after Jones' trial, leaving the new motions in the hands of Judge Patricia Koch.
The defense motion for a new trial alleged that a civil lawsuit filed by the victim after Jones' trial should be viewed as new evidence in the case. During her testimony, the victim said she never was pressured to be an informant, didn't blame the sheriff's office for what happened to her and that she had no plans to sue.
The lawsuit was filed less than two months after Jones' conviction. It alleges that the woman was coerced into acting as a confidential informant.
Online Rapides Parish Clerk of Court records show it was continued without any new dates in June.
Koch issued her decisions in one ruling Dec. 29. In denying the motion for a new trial, she wrote that the lawsuit didn't provide any new evidence, "only claims or allegations of the victim of her perceived injuries."
Koch also denied the prosecution's request to reconsider the sentence. She wrote that the record reveals "an adequate factual basis for its imposition of the defendant's sentences."
Jones, who is serving time with the Louisiana Department of Corrections in the case, has appealed his conviction to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal in Lake Charles. The court had sent the matter back to the district court in April until the motions were resolved.
He also still faces a felony charge of distribution of meth, a charge stemming from the Jan. 13, 2021, incident. There are no court dates in that case currently.
This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Judge denies 2 motions in rape case of Rapides Sheriff informant
