Infignos Media - Victims say they recognize defendant’s voice in “East Side Rapist” trial

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Victims say they recognize defendant’s voice in “East Side Rapist” trial

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The final day of testimony in the Anniston "Eastside Rapist" case included return trips to the stand for three victims, and the defendant taking the stand in his defense. Ularius Sherrod Johnson--called Sherrod by people who known him--is charged with a 27 count indictment on multiple charges of rape, sodomy, robbery, assault, kidnapping and other charges. Calhoun County Circuit Judge Debra Jones denied a request motion to throw out all of the charges. The jury spent two days and part of Tuesday, listening to some six hours of video statements Johnson gave police. In the videos, Johnson's demeanor ranged from calm to temperamental, with him going into tirades occasionally. Over objections from the defense, three of the victims--two of them raped, one kidnapped along with her children, all of them robbed at gunpoint--retook the stand to once again identify Johnson as their assailant based on his voice. They recognized his voice from the videos played in court. One of them said she remembered her assailant using a fake Caribbean accent off and on, while another said she was with him for more than five hours and he constantly said "man." The third victim, who was not raped but was kidnapped along with her children, recalls negotiating with her captor for 45 minutes. Johnson himself took the stand, despite Judge Jones' reminders that he had Fifth Amendment rights not to testify and could even be charged with other crimes involving drugs and guns. Johnson has asserted he sold marijuana for a living. Johnson claimed the stolen items in his possession at various times, including when he was arrested, were bartered to him for drugs. He denied having anything to do with any of the specific cases or victims in the allegations. Johnson also admitted lying to the police multiple times--including his assertion that three stolen guns actually belonged to his girlfriend and he had nothing to do with them--saying the lies were meant to keep him from a probation violation. He claimed he was telling the truth on the stand to "be a man" and take responsibility. He claimed he gave a man he called "Rooster" a ride to a pawn shop so he could pawn some jewelry that came from a kidnapping and robbery just days earlier, not knowing the jewelry in question had been taken in that incident. He denied claims by two witnesses he was seen cleaning that ring earlier that day with a toothbrush, although a toothbrush was found in his possession. Under cross examination from prosecutors, a defensive sounding Johnnson claimed multiple witnesses--from law enforcement to even his own grandmother--lied about him. He also claimed the victims were lying but added, "Nothing personal." "That's okay, they've been through worse," District Attorney Brian McVeigh shot back. McVeigh sought to highlight all the times Johnson lied to police and changed his story. McVeigh pointed out that the notion many of the stolen items came from a marijuana customer named "T" was something that was never mentioned until Johnson took the stand Tuesday. Johnson admitted he never knew "T"'s last name and only had a rough guess for his first name. Johnson admitted telling friends and family that the fact the rapes and robberies stopped while he was in jail made him "look bad," and admitted wishing out loud to a family member that another ATM robbery would occur so he would seem innocent and be released from jail.

In many of the cases the assailant ordered the women at gunpoint to drive him to an ATM and withdraw money from their accounts. Closing arguments are set for Wednesday morning.

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Keywords: rapist, Anniston, victims, defense, trial, defendant

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