SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) – More than a decade after a Dallas man robbed a Shreveport woman and threatened to rape her, a unanimous Caddo Parish jury found him guilty as charged in a retrial that concluded Thursday, August 21, 2025.
The three-woman, nine-man jury in District Judge Donald E. Hathaway Jr.’s court deliberated about an hour before returning its finding that in late August 2014, Joseph Martin Bryant, 50, forced his way into the home of his female victim, who lived on Creswell Avenue in the Spring Lake neighborhood, after knocking on the door and offering to perform tree trimming services. Armed with a knife, he threatened to rape and kill her. But after about 15 to 20 minutes, he fled after taking about $120 in cash. The case remained unsolved for approximately one month.
Late that September, Bryant tried to rob another victim on Millicent Way, at the other side of Spring Lake, after he approached the woman, who was loading her grandchildren into a vehicle. He again offered to perform yard work, and when the woman declined, he asked for money, claiming he was hungry. When the woman gave him $5, he demanded her purse, claiming he had a gun. When she shouted for help, he ran off toward Line Avenue. The woman was able to provide a detailed physical description to police and he was apprehended later at Mall St. Vincent. The woman identified him as her assailant, and the detective working the case saw similarities his case and the earlier incident on Creswell. The victim from Creswell picked Bryant from a lineup and he was arrested. At his first trial, prosecutors introduced evidence that Bryant had been convicted in Texas in 1994 of a sexual assault and produced another witness who testified Bryant raped her in high school in Texas.
His first trial in 2017 resulted in conviction by a non-unanimous jury. His appeal in that case was ongoing in 2020 when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Ramos v. Louisiana ruling that unanimous verdicts were necessary in criminal cases, requiring a retrial. After the state presented all of its evidence and rested its case early Tuesday afternoon, Bryant claimed to have a medical condition and was taken to a local hospital. The trial resumed Thursday morning following the defendant’s release from the hospital, with the unanimous conviction soon after.
Bryant will return to Judge Hathaway’s court August 27 for sentencing. He faces at least 10 and up to 50 years for the attempted aggravated rape conviction. For the armed robbery conviction, he faces a prison term of at least 10 and up to 99 years. These sentences must be served without benefit of probation or suspension of sentence. Additionally, upon release Bryant must register as a sex offender.
ALL INFORMATION WAS PROVIDED BY THE CADDO PARISH DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE.
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