FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — The fate of an accused serial rapist is now in the hands of a Fulton County jury, but before they make their decision, the panel got the chance to hear him defend himself from the stand.
Dandre Shabazz, now 55 years old, is on trial, accused of raping nearly a dozen women - described by prosecutors as prostitutes - at gunpoint in southwest Atlanta between 2002 and 2005. But, it wasn't until more than a decade later - in 2018 - that he was linked to the alleged assaults after a backlog of untested rape kits was cleared within Fulton County.
Shabazz is charged with 24 counts in connection to the alleged assaults, including 11 counts of rape, 4 counts of aggravated sodomy, 4 counts of armed robbery, 3 counts of kidnapping and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He's also facing a count of aggravated child molestation because prosecutors said one of the victims was underage at the time.
He took the stand Tuesday because he said he wanted to have his version of events on record.
In his own words, Shabazz admitted to engaging in sex with prostitutes while married at the time, but claimed that he did not force any of the women to have sex with him. He also said he would never unknowingly have sex with someone underage.
Photos: Trial of accused serial rapist, Deandre Shabazz
In court, as the defense rattled off names of alleged prostitutes, Shabazz denied knowing most of the women, and said he only knew their names from police reports that he read, linking him to the reported assaults.
He also denied being the one pictured in a mugshot presented in court.
"Y'all doctored that picture," he accused, referencing one of the two images. "So, y'all can just give any picture to the media and say, 'this him right here?' So, no. That's not me."
"So what you want the jury to believe is that a man who spent years lying to the person he claims to love and care about will come in here and tell the truth?" asked the state.
"Well, you know, like I told you before. I got saved, and you need to look into that," he said.
His testimony echoed statements made from behind bars, when he also denied assaulting the victims.
"I didn't run from this because of the simple fact I knew I never raped no one," he said in video obtained exclusively by 11Alive.
In closing statements, Shabazz's attorney said his client does not dispute the fact that he had sex with the alleged victims.
"He does not deny that," he said.
However, the attorney did say that it's imperative that the jury to take into account how long ago the alleged crimes happened.
"These cases were so long ago that facts of these cases were so obscure to them that they had to look at the reports just to testify," he said, pointing to what he described as inaccuracies in the testimonies and investigative failures in the case.
However, the state pleaded with the jury to seek the ultimate truth in the case and deliver justice to the victims.
"What's done in the dark will come to the light, and that's what DNA does for us - it brought it to the light," the state said to the jury. "And now it's your duty and your responsibility to say to these women: 'You matter to us.'"
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