A Philadelphia judge has ruled that the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office can defend the conviction of sex offender Jeffrey J. Marsalis, even though one of his alleged victims was employed by the D.A.’s Office during his 2007 trial.
Marsalis, 41, stands convicted of sexually assaulting two local women, then raping a lesbian in Idaho.
He’s appealing his local convictions in state Superior Court and seeks the disqualification of the D.A.’s Office, alleging a conflict of interest.
But in a recent opinion, Common Pleas Judge Steven R. Geroff said Marsalis failed to demonstrate the existence of a conflict of interest on the part of the D.A.’s Office.
In 2007, Marsalis stood trial for raping seven local women — including a law student who went on to become an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia. She’s identified in court papers as M.S., an assistant district attorney during Marsalis’ trial, though she wasn’t his prosecutor.
Marsalis met M.S. through Match.com and, in December 2004, they spent the night together in his Center City apartment, where he allegedly drugged and raped her.
A Philadelphia jury acquitted Marsalis of raping M.S. and four other alleged victims. But the jury convicted him of sexually assaulting two women.
In October 2007, Geroff sentenced Marsalis to 10-and-a-half to 21 years in state prison for his local crimes.
But Marsalis claims another agency should have handled his prosecution.
“It would take no stretch of the imagination to conclude that there exists a very real possibility that the intent of the D.A.’s Office is not that justice be done and the truth prevail, but to further the personal interest of one of their own, seeing that justice is done for [M.S.],” Marsalis said.
Geroff, however, noted that Marsalis was “acquitted of sexually assaulting M.S., and he cannot show any prejudice.”
The judge also denied Marsalis’ request for an evidentiary hearing.
Marsalis says he was on a flight to Idaho on the day one of his local victims, identified as A.A., claims he raped her.
But Geroff denied Marsalis’ request for an evidentiary hearing. If A.A. was mistaken about the date, Geroff said, it would be understandable, since she didn’t report it until two years later.
“Even if A.A. was mistaken about the exact date of the second sexual assault, [Marsalis] fails to demonstrate that the result of his trial would have been different since has has no alibi for the first sexual assault,” Geroff said.
Marsalis remains incarcerated at a state prison in Marienville.
His scheduled release date is Jan. 17, 2017. Then, he must begin serving a 14-year sentence in Idaho for raping a lesbian in that state, according to court records.