On the morning of June 15, 2007, a 26-year-old woman ran into a Minneapolis hospital screaming hysterically, and told the staff a horrific story:
Prosecutor's goal is to send rape suspect to prison for life
Gari L. Stewart, 28, is charged in a one-day crime spree allegedly involving arson, rape, kidnapping and burglary.
February 2, 2009 at 5:49AM
She had awakened about 1 a.m. in her apartment on Grand Avenue in St. Paul to find a stranger standing over the bed where she slept with her boyfriend. The man had stabbed her boyfriend with a kitchen knife, repeatedly raped her, set the apartment on fire, kidnapped her and forced her to rent him a car, withdraw money at ATM machines and give him her credit card before setting her free at the hospital.
Jury selection is expected to begin today in Ramsey County District Court in the trial of Gari L. Stewart, 28, formerly of Robbinsdale. The woman's boyfriend survived the attack.
The charges Stewart faces are severe: first-degree burglary, first- and second-degree attempted murder, first-degree criminal sexual conduct, first-degree arson and kidnapping.
If convicted of the first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge and the jury finds that there were heinous elements to the crime, he could face life in prison without the possibility of parole under a statute rarely used in a crime that doesn't involve a death.
Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner said the statute "was designed to pinpoint as precisely as possible the sex offenders who pose a lifelong threat to public safety if they are released." She said the "severity of the set of offenses ... indicated to us that it would never be safe to let him back on our streets again."
The trial, before District Judge Michael M. Monahan, is expected to last two or three weeks. Prosecutors Dawn Bakst and Jill Gerber will first present what is called their "case in chief." The defense is under no obligation to even present its side of the story; it is the state's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Neither the prosecutors nor defense attorney John Riemer wanted to comment on the case last week.
Stewart has been in custody since the day of the crime, when police tracked him to a Bloomington hotel, where he had rented a room using the woman's credit card.
"It's over," he told officers, according to the complaint. "So what, this is about the credit card stuff, and what else?"
He refused to talk further with police. It's not clear whether he will take the stand and tell his side of the story. Regardless, jurors will hear a lot of "what else."
Pat Pheifer • 612-741-4992
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