So on January 30, 2007, a grand jury of 20 peers returns a true bill for
Burglary- first count,
Rape-second count, and
Kidnapping - third count.
The regional media coverage of the 2007 Walton Way Alleged Rape case must have influenced the inclusion of rape and kidnapping charges by the Grand jury when there was only "Burglary DNA" to report (No Rape DNA).
Sgt. Richard Roundtree was listed as Prosecutor, and Daniel J. Craig was listed as District Attorney on the Indictment by the Grand Jury.
The defendant who was not present at the grand jury hearing was a repeat offender of burglary related offenses, and he would have gladly taken a plea deal for burglary only. Such a plea bargain would have saved taxpayers a grand jury hearing as well as trial court preparation, but with what seems like little to no rape evidence, rape and kidnapping charges were still stacked on to the burglary charges.
This "charge stacking" forced the Defendant Michael C. Blocker to plead "NOT GUILTY" because he did NOT Rape nor Kidnap the victim. He only acknowledged the Burglary.
So Why didn't the State separate the Burglary charge from the Rape and Kidnapping Charges?
Perhaps, the community would prefer to pin a rape and kidnapping charge on a partially INNOCENT man rather than make this particular elderly woman look like she told a "partial untruth" that received regional media coverage. Michael C. Blocker was denied a change of venue, and he was denied a fair trial.
Another unrelated Augusta, Georgia Trial case that was stacked high with charges was a 2001 Racketeering case/ "RICO" Indictment surrounding six defendants and two different crimes years apart. You can read about it here:
#exonerateMichael from his Life without parole sentence for a crime that he did NOT commit.
When a major offense is made a secondary count by a grand jury, I would call that reasonable doubt.
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