An Akron man in prison for murder changed his mind Wednesday when he was about to be sentenced for a 16-year-old rape case he was tied to through DNA evidence.
Efrem Johnson told Summit County Common Pleas Judge Paul Gallagher that he wanted to withdrew the guilty plea he entered last month. He said he didn’t understand that he would be a registered sex offender when he made the plea.
Gallagher told Johnson that he informed him when he entered his plea March 21 that he would be labeled a sexually oriented offender and required to report once a year for 10 years. Johnson, however, insisted he wasn’t told about this.
“I don’t feel I’m guilty,” said Johnson, who walks with the help of a cane. “I was trying to keep my family from having to go through this. I don’t feel I made my plea intelligently.
“I want to go to trial,” Johnson added.
Gallagher accepted Johnson’s request, though the judge warned the trial likely will be several months from now. A status hearing will be held at 9 a.m. May 11.
Johnson, 56, pleaded guilty to one count of rape, a first-degree felony, right before he was scheduled to go on trial for the August 2000 rape of a 38-year-old Akron woman. Prosecutors at the time dropped other related charges, including felonious assault and kidnapping.
Police say Johnson was tied to the rape by a DNA test done as part of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s effort to test rape kits for matches. Johnson’s DNA was on file because of his murder conviction.
Forensic analysts at the state’s DNA lab have now tested more than 10,000 sexual assault kits as part of an effort to process untested rape kits and found nearly 3,700 DNA matches with the federal Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). This includes nearly 1,400 kits submitted by the Akron Police Department, resulting in more than 500 DNA matches, according to statistics from the attorney general’s office.
The attorney general’s office doesn’t have statistics on how many cases have resulted in charges because police departments aren’t required to report this to the state. Cuyahoga County has indicted 460 people based on the DNA matches, said Jill Del Greco, a spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office.
In the August 2000 incident for which Johnson faces charges, the victim flagged down witnesses in the 900 block of Moeller Avenue in Akron’s Lane-Wooster neighborhood at about 5 a.m. She had injuries to her face and head and said she had been raped by two men. Police haven’t found the second man.
Johnson is in prison for the slaying of Jacob Courie on St. Patrick’s Day 2010. He was sentenced to life in prison and will first be eligible for parole in 2035. Courie, a 24-year-old U.S. Army Reserve veteran, was on leave from his second tour of duty in the Middle East when he was shot in the 300 block of East Exchange Street in Akron after an argument with Johnson.
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705 or swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @swarsmithabj and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/swarsmith.