CALIFORNIA EX-CONVICT ACQUITTED IN INDIANA : JURY FINDS PILLOWCASE RAPIST NOT GUILTY OF BREAK-IN THAT LED TO BEATING BY.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. The man known as the Pillowcase pil·low·case n. A removable covering for a pillow. Also called pillowslip. pillowcase or pillowslip Noun a removable washable cover for a pillow Noun 1. Rapist, linked to as many as 200 sex crimes in California, was found innocent Thursday of charges that could have returned him to prison for the rest of his life. A Lake Superior Court jury deliberated about two hours before finding Reginald Muldrew not guilty of burglary, confinement and robbery in connection with an Aug. 5 break-in at a Gary woman's house. vigilantes vigilantes (vĭjĭlăn`tēz), members of a vigilance committee. Such committees were formed in U.S. frontier communities to enforce law and order before a regularly constituted government could be established or have real authority. If convicted, Muldrew, 49, could have been sentenced to 31 years in prison. He also would have faced additional prison time because he was charged as a habitual offender In legal parlance of a number of countries, an habitual offender has been defined as one who repeatedly commits the same crime. The legal provisions may impose specific penalty on a legal offender, for example, a driver found to be driving repeatedly in a drunken state may be . Although he was acquitted, Muldrew remains in custody. He faces trial on charges of burglary, confinement and criminal deviate conduct in a June 24 attack in which a woman was allegedly fondled. Judge James Letsinger set a March 31 date for the next trial. Muldrew was linked to as many as 200 sex crimes in the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. area from 1976 through 1978. He was released from a California prison in December 1995 after serving 16 years of a 25-year sentence for four rapes and 13 related sex, burglary and robbery offenses. He was dubbed the Pillowcase Rapist because he put pillowcases over his victims' heads to conceal his identity. Christine May, a California Department of Corrections spokeswoman, said at the time of Muldrew's release that he was still dangerous but had completed his sentence - shortened for good behavior Orderly and lawful action; conduct that is deemed proper for a peaceful and law-abiding individual. The definition of good behavior depends upon how the phrase is used. - and could not be held any longer. California Gov. Pete Wilson criticized the ``absurdly lenient and dangerous laws'' under which Muldrew was sentenced. Under California law, the sentence is 25 years to life for the crimes which he had been convicted of committing. Muldrew apparently came to Gary last summer to live with his brother. He was not included on the state's sex-offender registry because his crimes were committed out of state, police said. |
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