The trial of Bernard Jackson, the man accused of four Waldo area rapes in the 1980s, is scheduled for 2011.
Judge Charles E. Atwell is scheduled to preside over the trial, which will be in either April or July. A case management conference is scheduled for August 13, 2010.
Earlier this month, Jackson entered a not guilty plea.
Police have called Jackson a “person of interest” in five rapes in the Waldo area in the last two years. However, he has not been charged with any of those five rapes as of yet. Read the article here.
Jackson is charged with rapes in the same area where five rapes occurred between September 2009 and February 2010. Victims in the earlier attacks had described the suspect as a black male, about 6 feet tall and 250 pounds, bald, with pitted cheeks – perhaps from acne scars – and with a deep, smooth voice.
Prosecutors said DNA linked Jackson to cold case rapes in the Waldo and Armour Hills area from the 1980’s. If found guilty on the new charges, Jackson faces 15 life sentences. Jackson will be in court again on Wednesday to confirm that he has qualified for and is working with a public defender.