Jesse Matthew Enters New Plea, Trial Ends: Media Reports

Image: Jesse Matthew (Fairfax County Police Department)

Jesse Matthew, the Charlottesville man accused of sexually assaulting a Fairfax City woman in 2005, entered an Alford plea to the charges Wednesday, according to media reports.

He entered the plea during his trial in Fairfax Circuit Court on three charges: attempted capital murder, abduction and sexual assault. The charges stem from the decade-old case in which a woman walking home from a local grocery store was abducted and molested, according to media reports.

In an Alford plea, a criminal defendant claims innocence, but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him. Before the trial, Matthew had pleaded not guilty to the charges; his move on Wednesday means the jury will not decide on a verdict or sentence, effectively ending the trial.

Judge David Schell accepted the plea deal, and Matthew became a convicted rapist.

Matthew, 33, entered the Alford plea to all three charges, each of which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Schell is scheduled to sentence Matthew on Oct. 2, radio station WTOP reported.

The victim traveled from India with two small children to testify at a pretrial hearing Thursday. On Monday, she testified at the trial about the sexual assault, describing that September night in frightening detail. But she did not explicitly identify Matthew as the assailant, according to media reports.

The plea deal came at midday, after prosecutors rested their case against Matthew, according to WRC-TV Channel 4. In testimony earlier Wednesday, a forensic scientist said that DNA evidence found under one of the victim’s fingernails linked Matthew to the crime.

Matthew also has been linked by DNA evidence to the killing of Hannah Graham, a University of Virginia student. Graham vanished in September, and her remains were found about five weeks later.

In that case, Matthew faces charges in Albemarle County of capital murder, first-degree murder and abduction with intent to defile. A trial has not been scheduled in that case.