In the late evening of December 29, 1982, a 17-year-old girl was dragged into the woods in Lexington, South Carolina, and raped at knifepoint. These woods were located near Perry Mitchell's home.
A week later, the police arrested Mitchell because he was said to resemble the description the girl had given of her attacker and because he lived "yards away" from the scene of the crime.
Mitchell maintained his innocence and said that he had been visiting an elderly neighbor's home on the night of the crime. Mitchell also said that after visiting with his elderly neighbor, he went to a party next door that was attended by about 10 to 15 people.
The victim, who was white, described her attacker as a Black male in his twenties wearing tennis shoes, blue jeans and a dark windbreaker-type jacket or shirt. Mitchell claimed that on the night of the crime, he was wearing cowboy boots, black pants and a lime-colored jacket on the night in question. The police included Mitchell in a photo lineup, and the victim picked him from the third photo lineup detectives showed her.
The evidence against Mitchell at trial consisted of the victim's identification and erroneous serological testimony. A forensic analyst testified that semen from the crime scene showed blood group markers consistent with Mitchell's blood group. The analyst said 35% of the population shared Mitchell's blood type and could have been the contributor, but then incorrectly stated that "you would probably have to cut that by another 50% because we're dealing with males."
On January 23, 1984, a jury convicted Mitchell of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. He was sentenced to thirty years in prison.
Mitchell's direct appeal was unsuccessful.
Twelve years later, in 1996, the Lexington County Circuit Court granted Mitchell a hearing on his second post-conviction relief application, which claimed that he had a right to have a DNA test. Mitchell's lawyer asked that DNA tests be performed on the victim's underwear to see if the semen sample matched Mitchell's profile.
Testing was completed in June 1998 by Cellmark Diagnostics. Mitchell was excluded from being the source of semen on the victim's underwear. Following these test results, Circuit Judge James Johnson Jr. granted Mitchell a new trial. The state did not try him again. Mitchell was released in August 4, 1998, after being wrongfully incarcerated for nearly fifteen years.
Summary courtesy of the Innocence Project, http://www.innocenceproject.org/. Reproduced with permission.
Posting Date: 08-29-2011
