[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish grand jury asked to indict Parish President Dave Peralta, prosecutor says

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish grand jury asked to indict Parish President Dave Peralta,
prosecutor says

Print Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune By Benjamin
Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 
Email the author | Follow on Twitter 
on April 23, 2014 at 8:57 AM, updated April 23, 2014 at 6:28 PM

State prosecutors will ask a St. Bernard Parish grand jury Wednesday to
indict Parish President Dave Peralta in connection with his wife's
accusation that he raped her last fall, Assistant Attorney General David
Weilbaecher confirmed Wednesday morning.

Prosecutors were to begin presenting their case to the grand jury at the
Chalmette Courthouse at 9 a.m. Weilbaecher would not discuss what specific
charge or charges prosecutors are seeking as he entered the courthouse
Wednesday morning. 

Reached by telephone Wednesday, Dave Peralta said: "I have no idea what
you're talking about," before referring any questions about the grand jury
to his attorney, Stephen London, who on Wednesday was waiting outside the
courtroom at which the grand jury was to meet. 

London did not discuss the case or possible charges specifically, but said
that nine out of 12 grand jury members would have to agree on an indictment.
He said he would likely have further comment after the grand jury proceeding
concluded.  

Sharon Peralta accused Dave Peralta of raping her Oct. 27 at the couple's
home in Meraux. She has said he handcuffed her before hanging her by her
hands from a rope tied to the ceiling and forcing her to perform oral sex on
him. 

After he removed the handcuffs, she said she fled to another room in the
home and that he followed her and raped her in a bed there.

Her accusation prompted a State Police criminal investigation and the
couple's publicly contentious divorce. 

A medical report from an Oct. 27 examination noted that Sharon Peralta had a
vaginal abrasion and a cervical strain. It also stated there was "parallel
reddened skin areas to both buttock cheeks" where she stated "she was
spanked very hard with flat palm," and it noted a reddened area where she
stated "she was grabbed to back of the neck."

A registered sexual assault nurse examiner wrote in the report that Sharon
Peralta had said that she was afraid of her husband and that she had a "very
sad affect." A rape kit was provided to State Police, according to the
report.

Dave Peralta, in his interview last month, said Sharon Peralta's "so-called
injuries" detailed in the medical report "were staged" and
"self-perpetrated."

"I think she did it," Dave Peralta said last month. "I can't prove it, you
know, but it didn't happen as a result of me."

NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune does not usually name people who report they
were the victims of sex crimes. Sharon Peralta has publicly discussed her
allegation in media interviews and in court filings. 

Weilbaecher said Assistant Attorney General David Caldwell will also be
addressing the grand jury on Wednesday.  

Stay on NOLA.com for more on this developing story.