He Was Wrongly Convicted of Attempted Rape. He’s Suing the DNA Analysts.
New York Times · LC · trust 53/100
Alexis Rodriguez claims technicians at the New York City medical examiner’s office fabricated DNA evidence, leading to his wrongful conviction in 2014 for attempted rape.
Listen · 5:37 min Share full article The lawsuit comes more than a decade after the New York City medical examiner’s office launched an internal investigation into whether it had mishandled DNA evidence in hundreds of rape cases. Credit... Bryan Thomas for The New York Times By Santul Nerkar
The attacker started rubbing her thighs and tried to force her jacket open, but she managed to escape his grasp. Later that day, she provided the police with her scarf and gloves, hoping evidence could be extracted from them to help identify the assailant.
Scientists at the New York City medical examiner’s office — a leader in developing forensic methods to crack America’s most difficult cases — pored over the evidence in the case and was able to pull small amounts of DNA from her clothing.
After more than a year, the office reported a breakthrough: Alexis Rodriguez, a 26-year-old man who had been arrested in connection with an unrelated burglary, was a match for the attacker.
Mr. Rodriguez was found guilty of attempted rape in 2014 and sentenced to 15 years in prison. But in 2021, a judge overturned the conviction, finding that Mr. Rodriguez had received inadequate counsel. Specifically, his lawyer had failed to properly challenge the DNA evidence, a move that could have exonerated his client.
Now, Mr. Rodriguez, 42, is suing the city and the lab analysts who worked on his case, accusing the analysts of fabricating evidence. His current lawyer, Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma, said it was the first time that anyone from the medical examiner’s office had been sued for DNA analysis leading to a wrongful conviction.
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