No rape on dates, hoaxer's jury says

It convicted Jeffrey Marsalis, 34, of two counts of sexual assault. Seven women had accused him.

June 14, 2007|By Robert Moran, Inquirer Staff Writer

A Philadelphia jury yesterday found Jeffrey Marsalis - accused of drugging and raping seven women, six of whom he met on Match.com - guilty of two counts of sexual assault but acquitted him of a slew of rape charges involving all the accusers.

The jurors failed to reach a verdict on one rape count against Marsalis, who pretended to be a doctor, a CIA agent and an astronaut to persuade women to date him.

Marsalis, 34, faces up to 20 years in prison for the two counts of sexual assault, defined as intercourse without consent. Rape includes aggravating factors such as force.

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Marsalis will remain held without bail until sentencing Sept. 18. He also faces a drugging and rape case in Idaho.

Prosecutor Joseph Khan said a federal investigation of Marsalis continued, and urged anyone with information about other possible crimes to contact the FBI at 215-418-4000.

One of the accusers threw up after learning about the verdict and "felt like someone kicked me in the gut," the woman said in an interview.

"I feel like the Goldmans," she said, referring to the family of Ron Goldman, whom O.J. Simpson was found not guilty of murdering.

The jury informed the court that it had reached a verdict after 11/2 hours of deliberation yesterday. It was the fifth day of deliberations, which on Monday had erupted into angry shouting.

Shortly after 1 p.m., the jury foreman was read a list of 35 counts, including 25 rape counts, such as forcible rape, rape of an unconscious person, and rape by substantial impairment.

When the foreman announced the first "not guilty," Marsalis, dressed in an olive-green suit, looked up. After the third "not guilty," he began to blink rapidly. But when the foreman announced the first "guilty" for sexual assault, Marsalis gulped.

One of the accusers gazed down with a sad expression when Marsalis was found not guilty of everything involving her. The woman, a lawyer, later sobbed quietly as the jury's decision was repeated.

One juror, a young man, repeatedly looked at the woman and seemed distressed. The jury was composed of eight women and four men.

Afterward, jurors declined to comment as they rushed from the Criminal Justice Center near City Hall.

The sexual-assault counts involved a New Jersey woman and a woman who lived in Marsalis' Center City apartment building. It wasn't clear why the jurors had determined that those women were sexually assaulted rather than raped, or why they believed those two but not the other women.

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