DA to retry Kellen Winslow II on rape, kidnapping and other charges

One-time Pro Bowl player Kellen Winslow II, convicted earlier this week of forcibly raping a homeless Encinitas woman he had befriended, is headed back to trial.

Deputy District Attorney Dan Owens told a Vista Superior Court judge Friday, June 14, that his office plans to retry Winslow, 35, on eight felony and misdemeanor counts, including charges of raping two other women, including an Encinitas hitchhiker.

Superior Court Judge Blaine Bowman set retrial for this fall, with jury selection starting Sept. 30. Opening statements are scheduled for Oct. 7.

The retrial decision comes four days after the same jury that convicted the former NFL standout of rape also deadlocked — in favor of conviction — on eight charges that include the alleged rapes of the hitchhiker last year and of a teen girl at a 2003 house party when he was 19.

On Monday, June 10, Bowman declared a mistrial on those and other deadlocked charges.

The conviction for rape stands, as do the two misdemeanor convictions: indecent exposure for flashing a 57-year-old-neighbor and lewd act targeting a 77-year-old woman at a Carlsbad gym.

After Friday’s hearing, Winslow’s attorneys declined comment.

Owens said after the hearing that the District Attorney’s Office found that because the deadlocked jury had leaned toward conviction, it “boded rather well” for a retrial.

At Winslow’s recent trial, jurors voted 10 to 2 in favor of guilt as to whether he had raped a 17-year-old girl in 2003.

That jury also found that Winslow had forcibly raped a 58-year-old homeless woman who agreed to join him for coffee on Mother’s Day 2018. But the jury was divided 10 to 2 in favor of guilt as to whether he had also sodomized her.

The panel voted 7 to 5 in favor of guilt as to whether Winslow had kidnapped and raped a 54-year-old hitchhiker in Encinitas on St. Patrick’s Day last year.

Winslow is looking at up to eight years in prison for the rape conviction and an additional year for the misdemeanors. He also faces lifetime registration as a sex offender.

If the jury at Winslow’s retrial finds him guilty of raping a second woman, he faces a potential life sentence.

Winslow was initially jailed in June 2018 after authorities accused him of sex crimes targeting North County women. He was released on bail, but jailed again in March after the 77-year-old reported Winslow’s conduct in front of her at a gym.

On Friday, Winslow’s attorneys asked Bowman to allow their client to be released on $1 million bail, home confinement and a GPS tracker pending retrial. The judge rejected the request, citing his usual practice of ordering defendants into custody after conviction, as well as concerns about risk of flight and public safety.

“The court does find a substantial danger to the community based on everything the court heard at trial,” Bowman said.

The defendant is the son of Chargers tight end and Hall of Famer Kellen Winslow. The younger Winslow also had an NFL career, entering the league in 2004 as a first-round draft pick. He went on to make a reported $43 million over 10 seasons.

--Teri Figueroa is a reporter for The San Diego Union-Tribune