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https://www.pnj.com/gcdn/presto/2019/02/13/PPEN/963077f3-0eb1-4666-8ff5-714284d6e86a-Christopher_Wade.jpg?width=300&height=370&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp

A Florida appellate court has affirmed the conviction and life sentence of a Pensacola man who raped multiple women at knifepoint.

In 2017, an Escambia County jury convicted Christopher Wade, 38, of sexual battery with a deadly weapon. Jurors heard that Wade approached a woman on the street, held a knife to her throat, sexually assaulted her and then fled the scene on a bicycle.

After the victim testified at trial, the state presented testimony from two other women who said Wade had approached them on a bicycle, threatened them with a knife and forced them to have sex with him.

In his appeal, Wade argued that those women should not have been allowed to testify.

Life sentence:Pensacola man linked to three rapes gets life

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The Florida First District Court of Appeal dismissed Wade's arguments in a written opinion Monday, noting that in prosecutions of certain sex crimes, evidence of the defendant's commission of other crimes, wrongs or acts involving a sexual offense are
admissible if they are relevant to the current case.

"Here, it was certainly relevant that Wade had approached other women on a bicycle and forced sex at knifepoint — if for no other reason than to refute Wade's argument that the events leading to his charges were consensual," the court wrote.

The court also dismissed another of Wade's arguments: that his attorney had a conflict of interest.

Wade's appointed trial attorney with the Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel discovered during trial that one of her colleagues was representing the victim in an unrelated dependency case. The attorney told the judge about the
situation and said it would not affect her ability to represent Wade.

Under oath, Wade agreed to waive the possibility there was a conflict in the case.

"Wade now argues there was an actual conflict of interest, that he never knowingly waived it, and that his Sixth Amendment rights (to counsel) were violated. We reject that argument," the court wrote.

Kevin Robinson can be reached at krobinson4@pnj.com or 850-435-8527.

https://www.pnj.com/story/news/2019/02/13/pensacola-convicted-rapist-christopher-wade-has-life-sentence-upheld/2839256002/

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