Ga. Supreme Court reinstates ‘pantyhose rapist' convictions

By Bill Rankin

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday reinstated convictions against the so-called "pantyhose rapist," a man who made his victims wear pantyhose before he sexually assaulted them.

Ali Nejad was convicted in 2005 and sentenced to 35 years in prison for taking his victims to secluded areas in Midtown and assaulting them at gunpoint. He forced his victims to wear pantyhose with a hole torn in them and raped them through the hole in the pantyhose, prosecutors said.

Nejad also was suspected of committing other sexual assaults, seeking out prostitutes along Ponce de Leon Avenue. At trial, a number of prostitutes testified about other incidents involved Nejad dating back to 1997.

Nejad's convictions were overturned by the Georgia Court of Appeals, which found his lawyer ineffective because Nejad was not properly advised of his right to testify in his own defense. But on Monday, the state Supreme Court reversed that decision.