Victim Bit Off Fingertip : Jury Deliberating in Series of Rapes

A San Fernando Superior Court jury began deliberations Tuesday in the trial of a man accused of committing a series of rapes while on his way to work in Burbank.

Terry Allen Wilson, 32, of Littlerock, near Lancaster, is charged with seven counts of rape and 15 other charges stemming from assaults on women in Burbank, North Hollywood and Toluca Lake in 1984 and 1985.

In his closing statement to the jury, Wilson’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Daniel B. Blum, acknowledged that prosecutors have a strong case on the charges involving a highly publicized incident in which a North Hollywood woman bit off the fingertip of her attacker.

Wilson was arrested that day, July 26, 1985, as he sought treatment at a nearby hospital for a finger injury.

‘Miserably Weak Case’

Wilson was charged with burglary and assault with intent to commit rape in the incident.

Blum argued that prosecutors had built a “miserably weak case” in an attempt to link Wilson to the more serious charges of rape and oral copulation involving six other assaults.

“You don’t convict people on innuendo or inferences,” Blum said.

In his closing argument, Deputy Dist. Atty. Kent C. Cahill countered that other assaults followed a pattern that implicated Wilson. They occurred within five miles of Wilson’s workplace and between 4 and 5:45 a.m., Cahill said.

The prosecutor recalled testimony that, although Wilson had a one-hour commute to his job in Burbank, which began about 6:30 a.m., he sometimes left his home about 3 a.m.