Judge orders accused rapist, held 7 months, to stay in jail

Metro Brief

A judge yesterday ordered accused rapist Jasper Washington held without bail to await a December trial on charges of raping a 7-year-old girl in 1995.

Washington, 33, a North Philadelphia mechanic, had asked Common Pleas Court Judge Amanda Cooperman to release him under a court rule stipulating that most defendants should spend no more than six months in jail awaiting trial. Washington has been behind bars since his arrest seven months ago.

In a series of hearings, Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Jobes successfully argued that a new provision of the state constitution permits some defendants to be jailed for a longer period. The tougher standard can be applied in cases where the threat to the community and the likelihood of a guilty verdict are considered great, Jobes said. She said Washington posed a high risk of flight because DNA evidence had linked him to the rape.