Convicted of Sexual Assault on North Oconee Greenway, Man Wants New Trial

A September 18th hearing is set for a judge to consider a motion to give convicted assailant Gary Gaylord Ford a new trial. He was convicted in March of trying to rape a woman on the North Oconee Greenway in 2008.

According to a story in the Athens Banner Herald, Ford walked away from an Augusta detention center on Feb. 8, 2008--just months before he was paroled after serving time for a robbery in Athens.

The rest of the day was one attack or fight after another, the story says. Ford hitched a ride with a woman in Wilkes County, then slammed her head on the steering wheel when she said she wasn't going to Athens, police say. She wrecked her car, police say, and when a man stopped to help, Ford punched him, stole his truck and drove toward Athens.

The story says he robbed a store, then two days later tried to rape a woman walking on the Greenway with her dog and roommate. Police say he then attacked the woman's roommate, as well as two cyclists who came to help.

Ford was convicted of aggravated assault with the intent to commit rape, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated sexual battery and robbery and was sentenced to life without parole.

Ford now says he needs a new trial because of a lack of evidence. According to the story, prosecutors believe otherwise.