Subscribe
Community
New trial date set for rape suspect
Friday, Oct. 23, 2009
|
| ||
|
E-Mail This Article
A new trial date has been set for a man who was convicted of rape, but whose verdict was dismissed last month due to an error in the reading of jury instructions prior to deliberation.
Tony Sneed, 48, of Fort Washington is scheduled to stand trial again in the Calvert County Circuit Court on April 12, 2010, for charges of second-degree rape, third- and fourth-degree sex offense and second-degree assault, according to judicial records.
When Judge Warren Krug read the jury instructions at the end of the trial, he said the word "defendant" instead of "victim," which shifted the burden from the state to the defense, said State's Attorney for Calvert County Laura Martin in an earlier interview.
This error placed the burden of proof on the defense instead of the prosecution so Krug granted Sneed a new trial on Sept. 18, the date that Sneed was scheduled to be sentenced.
Neither the prosecution nor the defense realized the error at the time of the trial and the mistake was discovered during the reading of the transcripts, she said.
A jury convicted Sneed on June 17 of all four charges related to an alleged rape that occurred in August at the Chesapeake Beach home of his stepdaughter.
The charges stem from a 23-year-old woman accusing Sneed, who was a Washington, D.C., fire captain at the time, of sexually assaulting her as she was passed out from alcohol consumption on a mattress at a party, charging documents state.
During the trial, both Sneed and the victim said they did not recall details of the alleged rape due to drinking alcohol.
Assistant State's Attorney Kathryn Marsh will again prosecute the case and judicial records list Joel Duboff of Silver Spring and Robert Bonsib of Greenbelt as Sneed's lawyers.
