Former Rutland cop denied new rape trial after ex-wife, citing perjury concern, declines to provide alibi – Worcester Telegram

Brad Petrishen|Telegram & Gazette

WORCESTER A former Rutland police officer serving 28 years in jail on two rape convictions has been denied a bid for a retrial he requested in November.

Jason D. Briddon, who was 40 when sentenced on the second of two rape convictions in 2012, would not have prevailed had his wife been asked to testify as an alibi, a judge ruled, because she would not have testified on account of perjury concerns.

It took two trials for a jury to convict Briddon in his second rape case, which centered on allegations Briddon raped a woman he met at a bar in 2007.

Briddons wife had testified as his alibi in the first trial thatended in mistrial but by the second trial, the two were in a contentious divorce, and Briddons lawyer, David R. Yannetti, elected not to call her.

Briddon argued Yannettis decision was a mistake, noting that he didnt bother to reach out to the wife to see whether she would, again, testify as an alibi at the second trial.

The state appeals court agreed, and ordered Worcester Superior Court Judge Daniel M. Wrenn to determine whether the wifes testimony might have proved helpful.

In a Jan. 26 ruling he wrote after hearing from the wife in a closed-door hearing, Wrenn said the woman would not have testified at a second trial because of perjury concerns.

Had (she) been subpoenaed to testify at the (second) trial as an alibi witness she would have invoked her fifth amendment privilege based on her concern of facing potential perjury charges with regard to her testimony at the first trial, Wrenn wrote.

The woman had testified at the first trial that Briddon had come home around 3 a.m. the night in question, which conflicted with the time frame the rape victim had detailed.

Wrenn also noted that because the wife had testified untruthfully at the first trial, his lawyer would have been precluded from introducing that testimony at the second trial in 2012 if he was aware it was untruthful.

Briddons 2012 conviction led to an 18-to-20-year sentence from Judge John S. McCann, who remarked at the time that Briddon took an oath "to protect society and not to rape one of its citizens.

That sentence is to run after a separate, 10-to-12-year sentence Briddon received in 2010 after being found guilty of beating and raping a prostitute in 2008.

Briddon worked as a part-time police officer in Rutland for about three years, and was employed there at the time of the 2008 rape, records show.

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Former Rutland cop denied new rape trial after ex-wife, citing perjury concern, declines to provide alibi - Worcester Telegram