ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A jury delivered a guilty verdict Tuesday in the case of a Windermere man who videotaped as he raped two unconscious women.
Darryl Patterson has been in the Orange County Jail since June of 2016, when he was arrested on charges of attempted sexual battery and sexual battery.
The jury began deliberating before noon on Tuesday then delivered a verdict of guilty on both counts a few hours later, at about 2:45 p.m.
Before deliberations began on Tuesday, assistant state attorney Deborah Barra argued that the video evidence in the case clearly shows that the victim was unconscious and unable to consent.
Barra said the victim wasn't even aware that an attack occurred until she saw her picture on a flyer from the Windermere Police Department, urging her to get in contact with officers because they were concerned about her wellbeing.
"(Patterson) did a really good job. He was able to commit attempted sexual battery on a woman who was incapacitated and sexual battery on a woman who was incapacitated and she had absolutely no memory of it. Well done," Barra said.
In her closing statements, Barra said the victim can be heard telling Patterson to stop the attack.
"She says, quote, 'Darryl, wait until tomorrow,' end quote. She says that 10 times in the course of the five-minute video. She says quote, 'No, don't' end quote," Barra said.
Defense attorney Richard Parker referenced the same video in his closing statements, claiming that while it might have been distasteful for his client to film a sexual encounter, he doesn't believe there's enough evidence to prove the victim didn't consent.
"Does it make sense for someone to say, 'Wait until tomorrow,' in the exact moment when someone is trying to get you in the mood for sex unless you obviously considered having sex with Mr. Patterson previously?" Parker asked.
He claimed that Patterson and the victim were close friends before the attack on her 40th birthday, so it's possible that their friendship could have evolved into a sexual relationship.
"It's possible she had sex with Mr. Patterson earlier that night, but the justice system was not built on guesses, it was not built on 'I don't knows' or 'I don't remembers.' But the state is asking you to convict someone based on someone's guess about what happened on the night of December 22, 2012," Parker said.
Patterson decided not to testify on his own behalf.
Sentencing is scheduled for 9 a.m. on May 4.
Windermere Police Detective John Allen, who brought the case to trial, said the conviction is just the tip of the iceberg.
"I have to think about a lot more than what happened today because I still have unidentified victims that I have to identify because we're not done with the investigation," Allen said. "Just because he's been convicted in this case doesn't mean we'll stop. (We'll) try and identify those women as well and make sure they're alright."
Allen said he has more than two dozen other tapes showing Patterson having sex with incapacitated women, besides the one that prosecutors showed jurors in court Monday.
"They met him someplace, no idea how they got to his house, woke up the next day in his bed with no clothes on and no idea how they got there," Allen said. "You're talking about women who were friends with him who trusted him."
Allen said he's identified 20 women on the tapes but has yet to identify at least six more.
Initially, the Patterson case was mishandled, Allen said, when the tapes were put into a storage shed at the Windermere Police Department and sat for two years after Patterson's ex-girlfriend turned them over in 2012 when she moved out of Patterson's Windermere home.
Allen discovered the tapes in the storage shed in 2014 when Patterson spoke to Windermere Police about an unrelated fraud case.
Windermere Police said several women came forward when police circulated a flyer showing pictures of women from the tapes.
"Think about it -- cops show up at your house with a video of something you never knew occurred, someone having sex with you, raping you, while you're passed out," Allen said. "One of these women I sat down and showed her the video and the first thing out of her mouth is 'Oh my God, I look like I'm dead,' "Allen said.
More tapes may be missing, Allen said, after Patterson destroyed a computer hard drive.
"I found bar owners that say he's been doing this since 2006, for at least 10 years," Allen said.
Allen said Patterson has yet to face sexual battery charges in Hernando County stemming from Allen's investigation.
Allen said he will now put Patterson's DNA in the statewide database to see if it matches DNA from other crimes.