A Louisiana judge presiding over a high-profile criminal case in which a black man was accused of raping a white Louisiana State University student has tossed out a 1972 rape conviction, one year after releasing another rapist on reduced bail.
District Judge Gayle Horne Ray’s decision, combined with her son’s serial rape convictions and her potential bias as a life member of the NAACP, raises concerns about conflicts of interest.
Ray will be sworn in as a 19th Judicial District Court Judge on January 12, 2023.
Three months later, she released DeAndre Cox, who had been accused of raping a neighbor in his early teens, without notifying the victim or the district attorney’s office.
This month, she dismissed Donald Ray Link’s 1972 rape conviction, a move not sought by Link’s lawyers.
Mr Link, who was serving a life sentence, appeared before Judge Ray last month to apply for parole eligibility.
Instead, she had her 50-year-old conviction vacated because “improper instructions” were given to jurors during the trial, calling it “plain error,” WAFB reported, citing court documents.
The sudden and unprecedented decision bypassed the parole process and set off another standoff between the judge and East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore III, who had challenged Cox’s bail reduction last April.
Moore argued that there was limited evidence available to the judge to determine whether Link should be paroled, and said this defense had already been filed and rejected in the early 1990s, WAFB reported.
“Ultimately, the court will rely on its ‘inherent authority’ in reaching its sentence,” District Attorney Moore wrote in a court filing, according to WBRZ.
“The fact is that courts have no inherent power to ignore due legal process and consider whatever they want, whenever they want.”
The Louisiana Supreme Court issued an injunction in the dispute, essentially pausing all action until the U.S. Supreme Court rules.
District Attorney Moore III and Judge Ray did not respond to calls and emails from Fox News Digital seeking comment.
Judge Ray was asked specific questions, including whether he thought his decision-making might be clouded or whether he had considered recusing himself from the case.
The judge and the East Baton Rouge district attorney are serving as presiding judge and lead prosecutor, respectively, in the alleged rape case of 19-year-old Louisiana State University sophomore Madison Brooks, which attracted national attention last year.
She was allegedly raped by four suspects — Kaivon Washington, Everett Lee, Kaysen Carver and Desmond Carter — in a car after a night of drinking at a bar in Tigerland, a social hub at Louisiana State University notorious for crime, dim lighting and no sidewalks.
After attacking Brooks in his car, the suspects reportedly left him, drunk and staggering, on the side of a busy four-lane highway in the middle of the night.
She was hit by a car and died from her injuries despite attempts by two good Samaritans to help.
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Lawyers for the suspects, some of them civil rights lawyers, have argued that there are racist overtones in prosecutors’ aggressive pursuit of high-level charges against black men accused of raping women in the wake of public outcry.
Within weeks of Brooks’ death, the case was thrust into the public eye after the defense leaked several seconds-long snippets of video footage that painted a negative picture of Brooks.
Months later, one of Brooks’ defense lawyers leaked Brooks’ autopsy report, which contained uncomfortable and personal details about the alleged rape.
It is noteworthy that since racial issues have come into public discussion, Judge Ray has been made a Silver Life Member of the NAACP, received the Justice for Youth Award from the Louisiana Juvenile Justice Project, and the President’s Award from the Baton Rouge NAACP.
She also represented her son when he pleaded guilty to multiple charges of rape between November 1995 and April 1996.
All of this could, at the very least, tarnish an already contentious criminal case and add to anxiety for Brooks’ family.
The family’s attorney has declined to comment for now as the family awaits a state Supreme Court decision in Link’s case.
All suspects arrested and charged in the Brooks attack have pleaded not guilty and maintain their innocence.
The lawyers argued that the sex was consensual and even went so far as to argue that if Brooks had not died, there would have been no criminal case.
Joe Long, one of the suspect’s lawyers, told Fox News Digital earlier this week that the case is “moving slowly… primarily because the prosecution is blocking the defense’s access to evidence at every turn.”
Carver and Carter are scheduled to appear in court on July 2, but the courtroom will be closed to the public due to the sensitive nature of the matter, Long said.
Long expects to have access to Brooks’ cellphone data during his court appearance.
“Following this hearing, the defense will review the blood alcohol content data and will challenge the blood alcohol levels present at the time of the alleged sexual contact,” Long said.
Prosecutors said her blood alcohol level was 0.319 percent, but the defense plans to dispute that.
The legal limit for Louisiana drivers is 0.08%.
“Under Louisiana (law), the state has to prove that MB (Madison Brooks) was in an alcoholic coma and therefore could not legally consent to sexual activity. Coma is a medical term,” Long said.
“We look forward to litigating this matter in the fall. We have a protective order and cannot release the information we have until trial, so we ask the public to be patient and withhold judgment.”
