BATON ROUGE — A defendant facing a rape accusation following the death of Madison Brooks in 2023 has notified court officials that he wants the judge presiding over his case to decide his fate without a jury.

Casen Carver and three others were accused after Brooks died following a night out at Reggie's Bar in Tigerland. His lawyer said Tuesday that he wants Judge Gail Horne Ray to hear the case herself.

In 2024, the Louisiana Supreme Court overturned Ray's decision to overturn a rape conviction after he had asked only for a sentence reduction. After prosecutors objected to her action, the justices said she went too far in overturning Donald Ray Link's conviction. 

The judge’s son, Nelson Dan Taylor Jr., is a serial rapist, convicted at age 17 after admitting to a series of assaults. The former Baton Rouge Magnet High School track star was accused of breaking into the homes of six girls between October 1995 and April 1996 and raping them. Taylor is also currently facing an obscenity charge for exposing himself to a motel housekeeper last year.

Prosecutors say Brooks, a 19-year-old LSU student, left Reggie's Bar with Carver, Kaivon Washington, Desmond Carter and another man early on Jan. 15, 2023. 

Washington and Carter are accused of raping Brooks in the backseat of Carver's vehicle. The men told officers that Brooks requested to go home and they took her to an address in the Pelican Lakes subdivision and dropped her off. After they left, Brooks wandered into the roadway and was hit and killed by a rideshare driver. 

Washington, Carter and Carver were arrested for rape. Carver is charged with rape even though there is no evidence that he had sex with Brooks.

The other man was not formally charged.