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A Multnomah County jury today found James Donald Jackson guilty on charges of Rape in the First Degree and Sex Abuse in the First Degree, which stemmed from an incident that occurred in June of 1994.

The case was retried because the jury who heard the case in 1995 did not return unanimous convictions on all counts. Some were unanimous and some were not.

In 2020, the US Supreme Court ruled in Ramos v. Louisiana, that the Sixth Amendment’s right to a jury trial requires a unanimous verdict on every count in state criminal trials. As a result, significant convictions have been overturned, necessitating new trials when public safety and victim protection is impacted by the reversals.

The jury verdict today was unanimous.

Deputy District Attorneys Jazmyn Ortiz and Chris Rothfus prosecuted the case for the state.

After the verdict Rothfus said: “This verdict is a testament to the victim's strength and courage to come back to court more than 30 years later and tell the jury this crime did happen, to hold James Donald Jackson accountable and to ensure that he cannot hurt anyone else.”

Multnomah County Senior Deputy District Attorney Melissa Marrero supervises the prosecutors on the case and followed it closely.

After the verdict, she said:

“We are extremely thankful that the jury was clearly able to see the terror experienced by Ms. Countryman in 1994. She has shown extraordinary strength both when she was an 18 year old girl, and now more than 30 years later in holding her rapist accountable.”

“I am exceptionally proud of our deputies for the work put into this case and we’re thankful for the good work of the Portland Police Detectives back in 1994. I’m also thankful for the willingness of Ms. Countryman and all the witnesses to come back to ensure that justice is done and a dangerous individual is kept off the streets.”

The victim is Amy Countryman. She has given us permission to use her name here. She arrived in Portland back in 1994 from Indiana. She moved to Portland because she had friends here and was hoping to find a job and start her future. She met the defendant at Pioneer Courthouse Square and he seemed nice.

Then he took her to a playground, threatened her with a gun and raped her.

After the verdict today Amy Countryman said:

“I would like to thank the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office and notably Melissa Marrero, DDA’s Jazmyn Ortiz and Chris Rothfus, as well as Victim Advocate Suzanne Rapagnani for their incredible perseverance, hard work, and support as they fought to keep rapist James Donald Jackson behind bars. Portland is a safer place thanks to them! Going through this trial is one of the hardest things I have ever done, and I am so grateful for all their work and care.”

After his original convictions for these crimes Jackson was sentenced as a Dangerous Offender and could have been held in prison more than 50 years, potentially until 2048. If he was found not guilty of these charges in this current trial, he could have been released by the end of this year.

With the guilty verdicts, he will now have another Dangerous Offender hearing at a later date.

Source: Multnomah County District Attorney

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