ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A man convicted of rape will face a new trial after his conviction was thrown out of court because of bad jury instructions.
Wilburn Dean Jackson, 50, was convicted of first-degree sexual assault and fourth-degree physical assault for a 2009 incident in Sitka.
But KTUU-TV reported that the Court of Appeals ruled that he will face a new trial, because the Superior Court didn’t properly instruct the jury about the need for unanimity.
The jury had unanimously agreed the incident qualified as rape. But the appellate court says they weren’t properly instructed on how to arrive at that conclusion, because the jury is supposed to consider every specific alleged act and unanimously agree on whether it qualifies as sexual assault.
At Jackson’s trial, the defense and prosecution didn’t object to the process, and the court didn’t catch the error.
Court records suggest that Jackson and a woman he knew went to a bar in March 2009 and had several drinks, eventually returning together to his trailer.
The next morning, Jackson got angry about misplaced money and started breaking furniture, according to court records.
The victim testified that Jackson then flew off the couch and held her down with his body, and then perpetrated a series of acts that qualify as sexual assault, according to court records.
The question prosecutors face now is whether to charge Jackson with a single charge of sexual assault or multiple counts, Deputy Attorney General Rick Svobodny said. “He may be facing more time in the end,” Svobodny said.
Jackson will be remanded to the trial court within 10 days, when a new trial date and bail conditions will be set. He remains in custody.
Jackson could not immediately be reached for comment after a phone call by the Associated Press to Goose Creek Correctional Facility.
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