SAN ANTONIO – After Anton Harris, 20, was convicted Wednesday of raping a nurse in her apartment in May 2017, Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales began evaluating four other Medical Center rape cases in which Harris is a suspect.
"We are going to look at the other cases to see whether or not we need to go forward and go to trial on the rest of them," Gonzales said.
Assistant District Attorney Daryl Harris, who prosecuted the 2017 case that ended with a 99-year sentence for Harris, said he is ready to go to trial in the other cases.
“That’s the approach we’re going to take,” Daryl Harris said. “And then we’ll make a legally appropriate decision.”
Medical Center rapist sentenced to 99 years in prison
Another option to resolve the cases would be to enter into a plea agreement.
"We're not going to resolve them with some minimum sentence if we think the right thing to do is to push them to trial," Gonzales said.
A third option would be to dismiss the cases, but that possibility is not likely, Gonzales said.
Gonzales said a key factor in his decision on which direction to go will be input from the victims.
Since they testified and told their story during Harris' trial, to try their cases would mean another trip to the witness stand.
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“We obviously prepare them, but you also don’t want to re-victimize them every time you do,” Daryl Harris said.
Daryl Harris recalled what one woman said following Anton Harris’ trial as the best-case scenario in resolving the remaining cases.
"One of them said, ‘I did get my power back, and I can make the statement that I’m no longer a victim. I’m a survivor,’” Daryl Harris said.
Gonzales said that he has two primary considerations as he evaluates his next move: The victims, themselves, and the safety of the public.