Bryant Found Guilty Of Aggravated Rape, Robbery In Finley Stadium Jogger Case

A Criminal Court jury on Thursday afternoon, found Devontavious Bryant guilty of aggravated rape and robbery in the October 20, 2012 rape of a woman jogging past Finley Stadium.  

Sentencing by Judge Don Poole is Jan. 5.

Bryant decided to testify, saying, "I didn't rape that woman."

He told prosecutor Cameron Williams, "I can't force the jury to believe nothing but I'm telling you the truth."

Bryant and Williams were both charged with the aggravated rape and robbery of a female jogger.

Last week, Williams reached a plea deal and received a 10-year sentence to be served at 100 percent.

According to Bryant, he and Williams went to eat at City Cafe but parted ways after leaving the diner.

He told the court that he gave the yellow hoodie and the wig he was seen wearing on the restaurant's surveillance video footage to Williams. He said he and Williams walked for a while before he also gave Williams his bike and his borrowed phone.

According to Bryant, he spent the night at a friend's house.

Bryant said he saw Williams put on the wig and hoodie and that it was not him on the bicycle in the convention center surveillance footage. He said he did not know who was with Williams after he left.

 In the Convention Center footage, two men dressed identically to the pair in the City Cafe footage are shown riding on bicycles, following a woman jogging.

 Prosecutor Williams noted during his closing statement that the victim identified Bryant in court and out of a police lineup in 2012. He said that at the time of the attack, there had been nothing to obstruct her view of his face.

 He told the jury, "Think of what you saw in the videos."

 He said, "You have an opportunity today to make sure he doesn't get away with this...to make sure he is held accountable for what she will have to relive for almost every day of her life."

 Defense attorney Joshua Weiss said his client was not guilty and that he was just "a stupid young kid that went out drinking with some friends."

 He noted that there was no DNA evidence linking Bryant to the crime. He said Bryant's DNA was not on the underwear found at the scene or even on the yellow hoodie.

 Attorney Weiss said that CPD investigators did not collect evidence properly and did cover the crime scene from the rain.

 He said of Bryant during the police interview, "He cooperated, he signed the waiver, he didn't ask for his attorney." He also noted that Bryant volunteered his DNA for testing.

 He closed, "He took the stand today so you would know the truth. He's not guilty not just because the state can't prove it, he's not guilty because he's not guilty."

 District Attorney Neal Pinkston gave the rebuttal.

 He told the jury to think of all of the things Bryant said he gave to Williams before leaving, including the wig, the hoodie, the phone, and the bike. He said, "Can you imagine Deacon walking down the road in the rain with that? It must have been a sight to see."

 He asked, "What are the odds that a phone that you borrowed was at the scene of the crime of a lady who pointed to you in open court and said you raped her?"

 He said, "The defendant's a predator. You follow somebody on a bicycle, a defenseless lady who's running with her earphones in, you attack her and you rape her. That's a predator...Her property wasn't enough. They had to take her sanctity."

 During Bryant's testimony, he said that condoms found at his house were the same type as those found at the crime scene because they all got them at the same clinic.

 However, attorney Pinkston pulled them from evidence to show that not only were they the same brand and color but the lot number was also the same on all of them.

 He said, "What are the odds that the same type of condom with the same lot number ends up in three distinct places? His bedroom, the crime scene, and the bedroom of his "charge partner?"

 He ended, saying, "When that presumption of innocence is gone...all you have left is a robber and a rapist."

 The jury began deliberating after lunch.