Two men have been convicted once again for a crime they committed over two decades ago in Portland. The Multnomah County Jury returned with a verdict of guilty on charges of Rape in the First Degree and Sodomy in the First Degree for the assault that occurred in the year 2000. Michael Lavon Rhone and Mathew Charles Monhead, who were just 17 at the time of the attack, now stand convicted for the second time in this case, which hinged on a retrial brought about by recent changes in legal interpretations of jury verdicts.
Their first conviction in 2001 was based on a split jury verdict, 10 in favor and 2 against, which was permissible under Oregon's laws at that time. However, the US Supreme Court altered the landscape with its decision in Ramos v. Louisiana, declaring non-unanimous jury verdicts unconstitutional for felony cases, as reported by the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office. Furthermore, the Oregon Supreme Court's ruling in Watkins v. Ackley in 2022 paved the way for retrials, such as the one Rhone and Monhead received.
Handling the case for the state was Deputy District Attorney Quinn Zemel, who, after the trial, commented, "I am proud of the work of law enforcement that made this re-trial possible. This verdict will allow the defendants to continue to be held accountable and provides a continued sense of justice for the victim." The successful conviction also brought forth gratitude from Sergeant Jason Sery with the Beaverton Police Department, who was instrumental in the arrest of the defendants back in 2000, while serving as a Portland Police Officer, "I’m incredibly grateful for all the hard work and investigation that went into this retrial," Sery remarked, acknowledging the collective effort that led to the re-affirmation of the 21-year-old verdict, as mentioned in the press release.
According to the facts disclosed by the prosecution, on August 9, Rhone and Monhead assaulted a woman in an alley as she was returning home. They were unknown to her, and the brutal attack involved restraining, raping, and sodomizing the victim. The defendants have already served their 200-month sentences handed down from the initial trial, making them immune from additional incarceration following this verdict, as noted by the District Attorney’s Office. This verdict, thus serves not as a prelude to more time behind bars, but as a reaffirmation of their crimes, and the justice system's commitment to uphold a survivor's quest for justice.
