A Jefferson Parish jury on Wednesday (May 8) found Charles Turner guilty of raping a young child, bringing to two the number of times he’s been convicted of the crime.
Turner, 44, formerly of Metairie, is guilty as charged of aggravated rape of a juvenile under age 13.
He abused the child over a two-year period beginning in 2013, when the victim was 8 years old.
Turner was convicted of the crime in November 2017 and was subsequently sentenced to a mandatory life sentence in prison. The jury was non-unanimous, with 11 of the 12 jurors voting in favor of guilty as charged. At the time, non-unanimous jury decisions were permissible under Louisiana law.
However, Turner received a new trial in 2020, after the U.S. Supreme Court decided in its Ramos v. Louisiana decision that non-unanimous jury verdicts are unconstitutional.
The jury that was seated on Monday night deliberated about 3 ½ hours Wednesday before returning with its unanimous verdict. Judge Lee Faulkner of the 24th Judicial District Court, who presided over the retrial, is scheduled to sentence Turner May 29.
Assistant District Attorneys Zach Grate and Brendan Bowen prosecuted the case upon retrial.