Colorado man's rape conviction vacated after 29 years in prison
A judge has vacated the conviction and sentence of a Colorado man who has spent 29 years in prison for a rape he claims he didn’t commit.
Clarence Moses-EL, 60, could be freed on bail while prosecutors consider whether to retry him, the Associated Press, the Denver Post and television station KDVR report.
Moses-EL was convicted of the 1987 rape of a Denver woman, largely on the basis of testimony by the victim who said his face had appeared to her in a dream. The victim, who was beaten so badly she lost vision in one eye and had six facial fractures, initially named three other men as possible suspects. She didn’t mention Moses-EL, a neighbor, until the next day.
He was sentenced to 48 years in prison, but Moses-EL has always maintained his innocence.
In prison, Moses-EL raised $1,000 from fellow inmates for DNA testing of the evidence in the case. In 1995, a judge agreed to have the rape kit and the victim’s clothing tested for DNA. But a month later, the AP reports, the Denver police destroyed that evidence. The investigating detective told the AP they had not seen any notice that the evidence was to be preserved.
In 2013, Moses-EL received a letter from a fellow inmate, L.C. Jackson, confessing to the crime. Jackson, in prison for two other rapes, said he knew the victim, who was a friend of his girlfriend’s at the time. He also said he had hit the woman after becoming angry during consensual sex. Jackson was one of the three men the victim had initially put forward as a possible attacker.
A spokeswoman for Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said prosecutors have determined that Jackson’s confession is implausible and inconsistent with the victim’s injuries. She also said he had recanted his confession to investigators because he didn’t believe he could be charged and wanted to help Moses-EL.
“Without question, we believe the victim in this case, and our biggest concern is for her,” the spokeswoman said.
