The man only asked for a lesser sentence, and the Baton Rouge judge incorrectly overturned his rape conviction, according to the Louisiana Supreme Court, which stated this Thursday.
The court stated that Judge Gail Horne Ray, whose son is a serial rapist, lacked the authority to declare Donald Ray Link innocent of a rape that occurred in 1972. Ray was chastised by one justice for a “patent abuse of discretion.”
After serving 50 years in prison, Link begged Ray to reduce his term so he could apply for parole. Rather, Ray declared she was going to release Link, voiding his conviction.
Prosecutors from East Baton Rouge Parish promptly requested the intervention of the state Supreme Court, which overturned Ray’s ruling on Thursday.
Link was never made public and probably never will be following the court decision on Thursday.
According to the court’s unsigned order, Ray made a number of mistakes, including using a section of the law that is only available to appeal courts, assuming incorrectly that Link’s jury received incorrect instructions, requiring Link to cite any alleged illegalities related to his sentence, and considering his request even though it was not submitted on time.
The court announced its ruling 6-0 and said, “We reinstate the conviction and sentence, and we deny respondent’s (Link’s) motion to clarify and/or modify his sentence.”
Hillar Moore III, the district attorney, expressed his office’s satisfaction with the judges’ decision to reject the judge and Link.
“We are grateful that the Louisiana Supreme Court reinstated this decades-old conviction and sentence,” Moore stated. “The court went one step further, ruling on the defendant’s motion that was originally before the trial court, confirming that the sentence imposed in 1973 was absolutely legal and valid.”
The judges ruled that Link had exhausted all avenues for rebuttal and that their rejection was irrevocable. The court stated that in order for him to file a new claim, he would need to locate a specific exception to regulations prohibiting multiple appeals.
The state Supreme Court ordered Link to take action after she alleged in 2022 that Ray was taking too long to respond to her appeal for the judge to reconsider his sentence. Ray’s actions after that order, according to Justice Scott Crichton’s concurring opinion on Thursday, were improper.
“The district court’s ill-conceived response to the order was to issue a grossly erroneous ruling that had a retaliatory if not contemptuous tone and, incredibly, resulted in the fashioning of an illegal remedy that even defendant (Link) had not requested,” Crichton wrote.
Nelson Dan Taylor Jr., the judge’s son, confessed to several rapes and was found guilty at the age of 17.
Taylor, a former running standout at Baton Rouge Magnet High School, was charged with raping six girls after entering into their houses between October 1995 and April 1996. Detectives revealed that seven of the nine girls who had been the victims of a string of crimes were BRHS students during the course of the inquiry.
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Taylor was given a 50-year jail sentence after accepting a plea deal that avoided a potential life sentence. He was obliged to serve at least 25 years as part of a plea agreement.
Link was found guilty of raping a woman on November 18, 1972, and threatening her with a butcher knife. After hearing his confession, the jury convicted him in 1973 and sentenced him to life in prison; the verdict was upheld by the state Supreme Court in 1974.
Prior to the family of the alleged victim learning of the reduced bond, Ray authorized a lower bond for an accused rapist last year. In order to get De’Aundre Cox back in jail, Moore had to go to court.
He claimed that at the time, the prosecution could not have argued against decreasing the bail; Ray subsequently supported Cox’s release on the reduced bond.
In early 2023, following a night of partying in Tigerland, three guys are accused of assaulting LSU student Madison Brooks. The judge in charge of rape charges against them is none other than Ray.
