COUNTYWIDE : New Evidence OK in Rape Trial Defense

New defense evidence will be introduced today at the multiple-rape trial of Paul William Jensen, after prosecutors reluctantly withdrew their objections before the 4th District Court of Appeal.

In papers filed Tuesday with the appellate court, Deputy Dist. Atty. Debbie Lloyd said the defense attorney had “grossly overstated” his position in asserting that a prosecution witness deliberately misidentified a piece of evidence in the trial.

But Lloyd nonetheless agreed to drop her opposition to the idea of exploring the issue in court. She said that a prolonged appeal could jeopardize completion of the trial.

Defense attorney Sylvan B. Aronson called the development “a very large vindication.”

When Jensen’s trial resumes today in Superior Court in Santa Ana, Aronson will try to show that Sheriff’s Deputy J.B. Davis misled jurors when he described a male sexual device reportedly found in Jensen’s night stand during a search of his Newport Beach home.

The item police saw, Aronson contends, was in fact a woman’s bracelet.

Aronson had sought to reopen his case Monday to introduce evidence on the dispute but was refused by Judge Robert R. Fitzgerald. Closing arguments in the case then began--but were abruptly halted when the appellate court called the court to say it would hear the issue.

Jensen, 48, of Newport Beach, is accused of sexually assaulting and beating three women in shopping center parking lots in Santa Ana and Laguna Hills in 1990 and 1991. He has denied the charges in an interview, saying he was mistakenly identified.

Jensen was convicted in 1985 of assaulting four other Newport Beach women he met in bars or through newspaper ads. He served 2 1/2 years in prison after the conviction.