I was raped at 18 by a stranger in the pre-DNA days under similar circumstances. Someone was arrested, but I was unable to ID him in a lineup. I testified at his trial and was asked that dramatic question. He was convicted, but the similarities end there – they’d found his fingerprints in my apartment. I’ve often wondered since how much time he served and whether he re-offended. There’s the nagging, “was it reallly him?”, but the fingerprints have me pretty much convinced.
It’s sad – and scary – how thin the line is between the desire to have the responsible person held to account and the desire just to have someone held to account and how easily we can be convinced that the evidence incontrovertibly implicates the suspect when in fact, the suspect may not be guilty.
I’m so glad I took the time to listen to this. Such a powerful story.
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I saw that last night on 60 Minutes. Poweful.
I was raped at 18 by a stranger in the pre-DNA days under similar circumstances. Someone was arrested, but I was unable to ID him in a lineup. I testified at his trial and was asked that dramatic question. He was convicted, but the similarities end there – they’d found his fingerprints in my apartment. I’ve often wondered since how much time he served and whether he re-offended. There’s the nagging, “was it reallly him?”, but the fingerprints have me pretty much convinced.
It’s sad – and scary – how thin the line is between the desire to have the responsible person held to account and the desire just to have someone held to account and how easily we can be convinced that the evidence incontrovertibly implicates the suspect when in fact, the suspect may not be guilty.