Rape Suspect May Go Free On A Technicality

A Staten Island man who was recently charged in a thirteen-year-old rape, after police matched his DNA from a discarded cigarette butt with that found at the crime scene, may still walk free on a technicality. Staten Island resident Lerio Guerrero has been connected to the rape and robbery of a woman in the Lower East Side in 1998; but because of a loophole in the statute of limitations, his lawyer is arguing that cops could have caught him years ago if they really wanted to. "They didn't use due diligence to try to find him," said lawyer James Palumbo.

During the attack, Guerrero allegedly left behind two pieces of evidence: a fingerprint from the ATM machine he dragged his victim to, and his blood. He had cut himself on the glass he was using to threaten his victim, and his blood fell on her coat. Police obtained a 'John Doe' indictment in 2005, before the statute of limitations would have expired, so that the case could be tried whenever the matching DNA was found. Although the statute at the time of the rape was five years, it could be extended to 10 years if investigators couldn't locate a known suspect despite "due diligence" in their search.

But Paulmbo argues that cops could have caught him within the original five year statute if they'd kept running his prints—Guerrero was arrested four times in NY State during that period, for drunk driving in 2000, marijuana in 2002, and drunk driving again in 2003 and 2006. The Judge has yet to rule on the dismissal plea.

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By Ben Yakas in News on June 24, 2011 2:12 PM

Comments [rss]

Guest

Just going by the headline, I'm going to say the technicality is that the perp is a cop.

jambolino

this is why we need 'the punisher' out there to shoot guys like this

VvM

or some mafioso's with good intentions

Barricaded_EDP

Way to twist the law like a champ

Mos Stef

I don't understand why there's a statute of limitations on rape. 1 in 4 American women have been victims of sexual assault, and these are just the reported crimes. And since I know that 1 in 4 American men are NOT rapists, this means that it's a crime that perps commit multiple times. Therefore, a statute of limitations is statistically illogical and does nothing to protect future victims.

And don't even get me started on how most cops could give a shit about rape. Just Google for info on the thousands of rape kits backlogged in LA, or how the Philly cops used to refer to rape victims, with strong evidence and all, as "lying bitches". (Source: http://inquirer.philly.com/pac... )

Trustafarian

wow - 1 in 4? really? that's disturbing

TimeDown

Not to diminish the problem of rape but it is more like 1 in 6 women in the U.S. have been raped or someone attempted to rape them: "Using a definition of rape that includes forced vaginal, oral, and anal sex, the survey found that 1 of 6 U.S. women and 1 of 33 U.S. men has experienced an attempted or completed rape as a child and/or an adult" http://www.nij.gov/pubs-sum/17...

Trustafarian

they really should raise the statute of limitations on rape.

Roncore

i understand laws, and statutes of limitations. but these are supposed to exist to protect people. I don't see how this man needs to be protected.