Early on the morning of October 25, 1986, a 25-year-old woman was attacked as she walked in the rain to a bus stop in Decatur, Georgia. The assailant approached the woman, hit her in the face, and said, “If you scream, I will kill you right here.”
The man then dragged the woman down an embankment. The man raped and sodomized the woman and dragged her to two other locations, raping her in each location. At some point during the assault, the assailant stole the woman's wristwatch, as well as her money. Two of her front teeth were broken.
After the assailant left, the woman sought help at the home of a friend, and police were called. The victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment, where a rape kit was also collected.
During the investigation, police canvassed the neighborhood near where the woman had been abducted. When one person said they heard that someone at a specific address was selling a watch, the police went there and learned that 27-year-old Clarence Harrison lived there.
Police searched Harrison’s house and did not find the victim’s watch.
The police created a photographic lineup and included a photo of Harrison, who had a prior conviction for armed robbery. The victim identified him as her attacker. Another woman who lived in the neighborhood told officers that two men had come to her door that night, and one was wet from being out in the rain. This woman picked out Harrison as one of the two men.
Harrison was arrested on November 5, 1986. He was charged with rape, robbery and kidnapping.
Harrison went to trial on 16, 1987 in Dekalb County Superior Court.
The victim identified Harrison in court as her attacker.
A forensic analyst from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) testified that serological testing on swabs from the rape kit showed blood group markers consistent with Harrison and the victim and could exclude 22 percent of people as possible perpetrators.
On March 18, 1987, the jury convicted Harrison of rape, robbery, and kidnapping. Harrison was sentenced to life in prison plus 40 years.
In September 1988, at the request of the DeKalb County Public Defender’s office, slides from the rape kit were sent to a commercial lab for DNA analysis. That lab was unable to perform DNA analysis on the slides.
In February 2003, Harrison contacted the Georgia Innocence Project and the organization agreed to investigate his case.
Though slides from the case had been sent at least once for testing, Harrison had been told in the early 1990s that all the evidence had been destroyed. However, a search performed by the Georgia Innocence Project discovered that a slide containing evidence from the rape kit still existed.
The slide and a reference sample from Harrison were sent to Forensic Science Associates (FSA), a California DNA testing firm. In August 2004, FSA reported that a male DNA profile had been obtained from the slide, and that Harrison was excluded as the source of that DNA.
Harrison’s lawyers filed a motion to vacate his conviction and on August 31, 2004, the motion was granted, the case was dismissed, and he was released.
In 2009, Harrison was awarded $1 million in state compensation.
– Maurice Possley
Posting Date: 08-29-2011
Last Update Date: 07-27-2026
