Frederick Dozier Jr., the 33-year-old former San Francisco school cafeteria worker accused of a string of violent sexual assaults in the Mission District late last year, was found guilty today of 25 felony counts of attempted rape, kidnapping and forced oral copulation. For his violent crimes, Dozier is facing multiple life sentences and will most likely spend the rest of his life behind bars. In a news conference following a reading of the jury verdicts, District Attorney Gascón called Dozier "someone that does not belong in the streets.... Frankly, he is an animal."
The two-week trial included harrowing testimonies from three women victims sexually assaulted in the Mission near where Dozier lived in the Bernal Dwellings housing projects. All three women testified that they were attacked from behind and dragged to secluded locations while walking alone during early morning hours.
Dozier originally pled not guilty to 26 charges related to incidents that occurred between June and December of last year. Dozier was acquitted of one felony count of attempted murder related to an attack on his second victim — a woman in her 50s who was choked so hard during a November 18th attack on Potrero Avenue that the blood vessels in her eyes burst.
Dozier was caught back in January of this year when investigators matched his DNA to semen traces found at one of the crime scenes. In interviews with Dozier taped that same day, the suspect allegedly admitted to the attacking and robbing the women victims. The Chronicle reports the DNA evidence and taped interviews were the backbone of Assistant District Attorney Marshall Khine's case against Dozier. Deputy Public Defender Greg Goldman argued that DNA matches are not always accurate and that the suspect only confessed after investigators pointed to the DNA link.
Shortly after his arrest in January, Dozier's chillingly normal Facebook status updates also came to light.
Dozier will return to court for sentencing on December 14th.
Previously: All Mission rapist coverage on SFist
[Chron]
