OAKLAND, Calif. — Lester Lewis’ chances of freedom seemed bleak.

The allegations were horrific, even for a rape case, and the prosecution’s evidence appeared to be strong. He was accused of beating, burning and sexually violating a woman as she died of a suspected drug overdose in his Oakland apartment, then coldly dragging her corpse to an outside stairwell.

But Lewis, 76, had one thing going for him — his failing health. He had medical maladies that required hospitalization and were so serious that the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office became convinced his death was “near” and agreed to his release from jail, court records show.

Six months later, Lewis is still breathing, his heart is still beating and any good will he may have had from a judge or prosecutor is gone. On Oct. 27, Judge David Pereda ordered the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office to send Lewis back to jail, citing his “drastically improved” condition and the threat to the public it caused.

“Mr. Lewis’ health has dramatically improved and there has been no showing that his condition is significantly different from when he allegedly committed this horrendous act,” Pereda wrote in his order. He noted that Lewis’ attorney had, back in March, informed the court that Lewis was likely in his “last moments” and later stated that he could be going to hospice care soon.

Prosecutors were initially persuaded to agree to Lewis’ release to a hospital. When he failed to die, they moved for Pereda to jail him once again. The prosecution’s motion cites a March message from the defense attorney, Deputy Public Defender George Arroyo, informing the prosecutor that he had “sad news” that Lewis likely “will not be making it out of the hospital” and that Arroyo will request a release order so that Lewis’ sister can be there for “last moments” to avoid “red tape” and high costs.

The prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Olivia Suraci, wrote in a declaration that she only agreed to this because she felt assured Lewis would, in fact, die.

“Had I known the defendant would be healthy enough to be discharged from the hospital a few months later, I would have objected to the (release),” she wrote.

For bail motions — unlike in criminal trials — a judge must assume that the charges against the defendant are true in determining his or her potential danger to the public. In Lewis’ case, that’s a particularly gut-wrenching task.

Prosecutors say he filmed himself raping a dead or dying woman, dragged her body to a stairwell after burning and slapping her several times to confirm her death, then headed over to a police station with a completely bogus story about how he simply stumbled upon her dead body near his home.

The woman showed no response to pain and appeared “unconscious or dead” on the video, police said in court records.

Lewis allegedly invited the woman to his home on Aug. 31 after offering her drugs and $100 to have sex with him and clean his apartment on the 1300 block of 81st Avenue in Oakland. He claimed she smoked something white and powdery and he believed she succumbed to a drug overdose.

Lewis’ preliminary hearing has been tentatively scheduled for next week. He has pleaded not guilty.

©2025 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at mercurynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.