Archive for Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Trial begins for man accused of rapes
May 13, 2008
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Rape trial begins
A 38-year-old victim describes in detail how she was brutally attacked and raped nearly 14 years ago. Enlarge video
A 38-year-old woman on Monday described in detail how she was attacked and raped nearly 14 years ago.
“I woke up with a person on top of me. I was screaming,” she said. “The person started hitting me to get me to stop screaming.”
The woman’s testimony came as trial got under way Monday for a 39-year-old Sacramento, Calif., man accused of raping several women near the KU campus in the mid-1990s.
The man is charged with four counts of rape and three counts of aggravated criminal sodomy involving two separate victims.
Prosecutors couldn’t charge the man in a third attack because the statute of limitations had run out.
The suspect was identified more than a decade after the crimes occurred through a DNA hit in a national crime database.
Prosecutors said during opening statements that the chance of someone else having the same genetic profile as the suspect is one in 122 quadrillion.
“What he left behind is what’s important,” Assistant District Attorney Amy McGowan told jurors. “DNA evidence will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that (the defendant) is a rapist.”
Defense Attorney Jim Rumsey plans to argue that the DNA samples were contaminated at the KBI lab.
The Journal-World typically does not identify suspects in sex crimes unless there is a conviction.
Testimony in the case resumes this morning.
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13 May 2008 at 2:44 a.m.
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KEITHMILES05 (Anonymous) says…
What a STUPID policy not to identify a suspect. I bet a millon dollars this newspaper doesn't do that for any other kind of crime. What sort of shady deal is going on here?
13 May 2008 at 5:42 a.m.
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igby (Anonymous) says…
If he lived in Lawrence then and the DNA matches, he will need a real good lawyer.
13 May 2008 at 8:35 a.m.
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CrystalKU (Anonymous) says…
Let's see keithmiles05; if you were accused of rape and were innocent would you want your name associated with a violent sexual crime before you were proven innocent? The stigma of association between your name and the crime you were accused of would not go away just because you were proven innocent. Being accused of being a serial rapist is a pretty severe charge and the constitution and due process protects their rights until they are proven guilty. Furthermore, if tangible evidence is present, splattering such news throughout every media outlet makes it more difficult to prosecute if a jury need be selected. Wow. It's nice that people know how to complain without knowing anything at all.
13 May 2008 at 3:23 p.m.
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Jillster (Anonymous) says…
The paper also hasn't identified the suspect in the hit-and-run accident that killed Tom Crum. I think they're being very consistent here.