Judge Dismisses Rape Charges in UCLA Case

A Los Angeles County judge dismissed charges Thursday against a 19-year-old man accused of raping a UCLA student in her dorm room in 2002, after prosecutors decided not to try the case a third time.

“It was our opinion that no jury would be able to reach a unanimous verdict,” said prosecutor Scott Millington.

Superior Court Judge Keith Schwartz granted the prosecution’s motion to dismiss the case against Deshawn Carter Stringer just a few hours after the jury had deadlocked. Jurors voted 7 to 5 to convict Stringer on forcible rape and forcible oral copulation charges that could have resulted in a 16-year prison sentence.

The first trial also ended in a hung jury on both counts. At that time, Stringer was convicted of misdemeanor sexual battery for groping another student on the same day of the alleged rape. The first jury deadlocked 11 to 1 on rape charges against two co-defendants, Jamar Dawson and Chuwan Anthony. Cases against both men were later dismissed.

Stringer’s attorney, Frank Williams Jr., said Thursday that he was relieved by the outcome.

Stringer and his co-defendants were students at Carson High School when they went on a Dec. 5, 2002, field trip to UCLA. Prosecutors alleged that they left the group and knocked on the door of the freshman’s dorm room.

The woman testified that the men identified themselves as football players from a Florida college who were planning to transfer to UCLA and then entered her room and raped her. The defendants and their attorneys maintained that the sex was consensual.

Stringer, who plans to graduate from Compton Community College in December, said the case had affected him “really big.”

“I just thank God for another opportunity,” he said. “I can move on with my life.”