In a legal pleading laced with insults against the judiciary, convicted rapist Jeffrey G. Marsalis reiterated his request for a new trial.
Marsalis sexually assaulted three Philadelphia-area women between 2003-05, before going to Idaho and raping a lesbian there.
In 2007, a Philadelphia jury convicted Marsalis of two counts of sexual assault and he pleaded no contest to one count of unlawful restraint. Common Pleas Judge Gary S. Glazer imposed a 10-and-a-half to 21-year prison sentence.
But Marsalis maintains he received an unfair trial due to ineffective assistance of his trial counsel. He also claims Glazer and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office were biased against him.
In March, a three-judge panel of state Superior Court rejected Marsalis’ request for a new trial. The judges who served on the panel are John T. Bender, Judith F. Olson and William H. Platt.
But last month, Marsalis filed a 28-page document, asking the entire court to reconsider the matter and order a new trial.
In the document, Marsalis described Platt as “weathered, feeble and fatigued from his days of wielding his gavel to railroad criminal defendants.”
Marsalis noted that he’s been referred to as a “scumbag” and “deadbeat” in the media, which may have caused the panel to be prejudiced against him.
Marsalis also said the panel’s “only apparent exhibition of cogent thought was to mask its laziness” by mischaracterizing his case so that it could rule against him.
Marsalis claimed a post-conviction evidentiary hearing could have exonerated him but that Glazer unfairly denied him that hearing.
Prosecutors accused Marsalis of drugging his victims prior to assaulting them. But in his filing, Marsalis said his alleged victims self-medicated due to health conditions.
A thorough investigation of the medical backgrounds of his alleged victims is required to avoid a miscarriage of justice, according to Marsalis.
“The panel’s determination [that Marsalis didn’t need an evidentiary hearing] falls as a blow well below the belt,” his pleading stated.
Marsalis also said he was in Idaho on Jan. 2, 2004, when he allegedly raped a woman in Philadelphia, and that he can prove it if given the opportunity.
“Certainly it cannot be reasonably said that, had the panel properly evaluated the foregoing claim as it was required to do, it could have reasonably concluded that [an evidentiary hearing wasn’t needed],” Marsalis added.
Moreover, Marsalis reiterated his claim that the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office should be disqualified from the case, because it erroneously accused him of raping a local prosecutor.
Cameron Kline, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia D.A.’s Office, declined to comment for this story.
Marsalis remains incarcerated in a state prison in Marienville. He’s eligible to apply for parole next year. If released, he’s expected to serve a 14-year prison sentence in Idaho for raping a lesbian in that state, according to court records.
