Shortly after midnight on December 2, 1985, a woman was walking in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when a Chevrolet Caprice pulled up beside her and stopped. A man got out of the front passenger seat and forced the woman, identified as L.Y., into the back seat at gunpoint.
L.Y. was driven to another location, where the driver and the passenger sexually assaulted her. They stole her money, gold chain, and glasses, and then drove around the block, eventually pushing her, half-dressed, out of the car.
Five months later, L.Y. was walking on the street when she saw 22-year-old Vincent Moto walking with a young woman and a child. L.Y. went to an office nearby and called the police and said she had seen one of the men who attacked her. When the police arrived, Moto was arrested. He was charged with rape, involuntary deviate sexual assault, robbery and criminal conspiracy.
In January 1987, Moto went to trial in Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas. L.Y., who is white, testified and identified Moto, who is Black, as her attacker. L.Y. also testified that prior to the trial, the second man in the car, who had never been identified or arrested, stopped her on the street. She said the man pointed a gun at her and threatened to harm her and her children if she testified against “Vincent.”
Moto testified and denied committing the crime. He said he had been home at the time of the crime. His parents testified and also said he had been home at that time.
On January 9, 1987, a jury convicted Moto of rape, involuntary deviate sexual assault, robbery and criminal conspiracy. Moto’s family obtained a new lawyer, Thomas L. McGill Jr., who filed a post-trial motion for a new trial alleging that Moto’s trial defense attorney provided ineffective assistance of counsel. Following evidentiary hearings on September 11, 1987, and January 12, 1988, the court denied the motions and sentenced Moto to 12 to 24 years in prison.
Shortly after the denial, Moto filed a motion for DNA testing. While the trial judge denied the motion, the court also ordered that all evidence in the case be preserved.
Moto sought help from the Innocence Project. In 1992, after accepting his case, the project filed another motion for DNA testing. That motion was granted and the victim’s underwear, which contained semen, was sent to Forensic Science Associates (FSA), a California DNA laboratory.
FSA’s testing revealed the presence of three different male DNA profiles. Moto was excluded. As a result, the Innocence Project filed a motion to vacate Moto’s convictions.
On November 13, 1995, Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge Joseph Papalini vacated Moto’s conviction and granted him a new trial.
On July 15, 1996, the charges were dismissed, and Moto was released.
In 1999, a state legislator proposed a bill that would have awarded Moto $200,000 in compensation. The bill never passed.
– Maurice Possley
Posting Date: 08-29-2011
Last Update Date: 03-02-2026
