Convicted “Bayshore rapist” demands retrial

TAMPA, Fla. – The man Tampa police dubbed the “Bayshore Rapist” was back in a Hillsborough County courtroom Tuesday.

Luis Harris was found guilty of impersonating a police officer, kidnapping a woman and raping her on Tampa’s Bayshore Boulevard in 2011. But an appeals court ruled that there were enough doubts about the evidence presented by prosecutors in the case to warrant what is known as a post-conviction appeals hearing.

Harris claims Tampa police and prosecutors withheld video evidence that should have been presented to the jury in his original case, including video footage from several traffic cameras and two television weather cameras at the corner of Bayshore and Bay to Bay Boulevard.

Harris, who is currently serving a life sentence, is representing himself as he did 13 years ago.

He bases many of his allegations on an anonymous whistleblower letter sent to him on TPD letterhead by a person claiming to be a retired police officer, claiming that Harris’ car that night, as well as the victim, can be seen in at least 13 camera angles – and that none of the images show a crime.

Harris said that if that is true, he was never given these images. He asked the court to assign him a private investigator to find out if there are any copies of these videos left.

The judge granted the motion and imposed 10 hours of labor to determine whether the videos exist and another 10 hours to make copies if they do, at an estimated cost to taxpayers of about $1,000.

Editor’s Note: The related articles link to the previous 10 Tampa Bay reports, but due to technical issues, the formatting of those years-old articles is corrupted.

Harris also asked the court to order officers to remove his handcuffs during court proceedings, saying they were restrictive and made it difficult for him to search through documents and write down information.

Since Harris is representing himself, the judge granted this request as well, provided the bailiffs can find another way to safely detain Harris.

“My request is to overturn this life sentence for kidnapping and conviction, Judge,” Harris said. “And I want to prove to the court that this was not kidnapping, rape or impeachment. And I need my hands free to go through my documents.”

Harris’ legal strategy appears to be to create enough doubt at his upcoming retrial hearing – or at least enough doubt about whether he was able to adequately defend himself – to potentially justify a retrial.

The judge ordered all parties to return to court on July 18 to hear the latest findings from the videos and what the private investigator did or did not discover many years later.

Harris maintains his innocence, but investigators said that before his original trial, several witnesses came forward accusing him of posing as an undercover drug agent.