A Jamaican man charged with raping a prostitute in Farmington, Connecticut, in 2009, is headed to trial for a second time, THE STAR has learnt.

Jermaine Ross, 35, is charged with first-degree sexual assault and first-degree kidnapping.

He is accused of taking a woman from Hartford to the rear parking lot along Route 6 in Farmington and raping her.

According to a report in the Hartford Courant, the case went to trial last summer, but a mistrial was declared after jurors told a judge they were hopelessly deadlocked 5-1.

THE STAR understands that five jurors were in favour of convicting Ross.

At that trial, Ross represented himself after firing his public defender. He told Judge Joan K Alexander he wanted to do the same thing in the second trial.

Interestingly, his family hired Thomas J Mullins for the second trial, but on Wednesday Mullins told the judge he tried to communicate prosecutor Thomas Garcia's plea offer to Ross but was unsuccessful.

Judge Alexander ordered that Ross listen to his lawyer. She cited a recent US Supreme Court ruling requiring defendants to be aware of their plea offers.

Ross subsequently rejected the offer and his case was placed on the trial list.