Recently, during the trial of a Pennsylvania man accused of several sex crimes, a DNA analyst testified that forensic DNA evidence collected from the victim could neither confirm nor deny that the defendant was one of the two men who allegedly assaulted the victim following a 2009 party. With no solid evidence that the man was a perpetrator of the crime, the prosecution rested its case against the man.

According to the charges filed in court, the 48-year-old defendant and another 40-year-old man offered to drive the victim home from a party near Taneytown in the early morning hours of August 16, 2009. It is alleged that the men sexually assaulted the victim at that time. After the assault, the woman escaped from the vehicle and flagged down a passing motorist who drove her to a nearby 7-Eleven store, with the two men in hot pursuit. There, the victim hid in a stock room until the men left the store.

When the victim reported the crime, investigators found forensic evidence showing that two men had perpetrated the alleged sex crimes against her. When compared against the DNA samples taken from the two men, the evidence clearly indicated that one of the two men had been involved, according to police reports. In December, that man pleaded guilty to two counts of third degree sexual offenses and one count of attempted first degree rape. He will be sentenced next month.

For the current defendant, however, DNA evidence did not conclusively prove whether he was or was not involved in the alleged sexual assault. It is now up to the jury to determine whether, from the evidence presented at trial, the defendant is guilty of the charges of third degree sexual offense and first degree rape.

Source: Carroll County Times, "Prosecutors likely to rest in alleged rape case", Ryan Marshall, 3 February 2011