In July 1982, S.B., a 47-year-old English teacher, returned to her Towson, Maryland, apartment in the middle of the afternoon. When she entered her bedroom, a man jumped out of her closet. He held an object at her back and threatened to shoot her. The man covered her head with a robe, then forced her onto the bed and raped her. Shortly after the man fled, S.B.’s husband arrived at the apartment and called the police.
S.B., who was white, described her attacker as a Black man with a dark complexion and close-cropped hair. After searching their bedroom, the victim and her husband found a pair of khaki pants that had been left by the perpetrator. They also found a key in one of the pockets. These items, as well as the S.B.’s clothing, were collected by the police. S.B. was then taken to Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC), where a rape kit was collected.
Three other people at S.B.’s apartment complex had seen a man resembling the description of the attacker that day. Two of the witnesses described the man they saw as a young, light-skinned Black man, 5 feet 8 inches tall, wearing tan or beige pants.
A detective recalled that 19-year-old Bernard Webster had been arrested several months earlier for stealing a pocketbook at a nearby building, and he created a photographic lineup that contained Webster’s photograph.
The three people picked Webster’s photograph as the man they saw near S.B.’s apartment complex.
On July 20, 1982, Webster, who was only 5 feet tall, was arrested. He was placed into a lineup and identified by S.B. and two of the three eyewitnesses who had viewed the photographic lineup. Webster was charged with rape and burglary.
In March 1983, Webster went to trial in Baltimore County Circuit Court. S.B. identified him as her attacker. Two witnesses testified that they saw Webster near S.B.’s apartment complex the day of the attack.
A detective testified that the key in the khaki pants would open the lock on the door to Webster’s apartment if the key was jiggled. The defense contended that the key did not open the door at all.
Concepcion Bacasnot, a Baltimore County police chemist, testified that semen was found on the bedspread. In her written report of the serology testing, Bacasnot said the semen was blood type AB. Webster was a type A secretor, meaning that his blood type could be determined by testing his body fluids. S.B. was type B and her husband was type O.
Bacasnot said that she found type A and type B antigens in the rape kit swabs. She said that the reference to AB, was a typographical error. She said the source of the semen was a type A secretor like Webster. Asked if the rapist could be a type AB, Bacasnot said, “No.”
Two witnesses testified that they were with Webster at a basketball court at the time of the crime.
On March 11, 1983, the jury convicted Webster of rape and burglary. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
In 2000, Webster wrote to the Maryland Office of the Public Defender asking for help. Michelle Nethercott, an attorney in the office, began reviewing his case. In 2001, after Maryland enacted a post-conviction DNA testing statute, Webster filed a motion for testing. In 2002, a judge ordered testing on three slides located at the hospital where S.B. had been taken for treatment and collection of the rape kit.
In October 2002, Webster was excluded as the source of spermatozoa found on the slides. Prosecutors then sought DNA testing at the police laboratory with new reference samples from S.B. and her husband. Those results excluded S.B.’s husband and Webster.
Nethercott filed a motion to vacate Webster’s conviction. On November 7, 2002, with the agreement of the prosecution, Webster’s conviction was vacated, the case was dismissed and he was released.
On December 30, 2002, Maryland Governor Parris Glendenning pardoned Webster. In January 2003, the state awarded Webster $900,000 in compensation.
Subsequently, Dr. Edward Blake, a DNA scientist at Forensic Science Associates (FSA), a California DNA testing firm, reviewed Bacasnot’s serology report and her trial testimony.
“Ms. Bacasnot’s false testimony in this case is clearly designed to bootstrap the State’s case theory,” Blake reported. “Such false testimony in this case cannot be expected to be isolated. Rather, it reflects a fundamental lack of candor and integrity that can only result from systemic tolerance or systemic encouragement.”
Blake said that a man with an AB blood type was as capable as being part of the mix as a man with type A blood. “That this scientific fact in the case is known by every competent and honest forensic scientist,” Blake reported. He said that Bacasnot’s testimony was “within the material definition of perjury.”
Baltimore County officials pledged a review of cases handled by Bacasnot, who had resigned for personal reasons years earlier, after testifying in another case that she said she did not understand the science involved in her work.
Officials identified nearly 500 cases that Bacasnot was involved in, but they decided against a review, saying they didn't have the money or staffing. They decided to leave it up to defendants and their lawyers to investigate cases themselves.
In January 2022, Webster was granted supplemental compensation of $806,730 and other benefits, including health care for five years.
– Maurice Possley
Posting Date: 08-29-2011
Last Update Date: 07-30-2026
