Woman in Rape Case Seeks Perjury Trial

A woman who could not convince a judge that she lied about being raped six years ago challenged prosecutors to try her for perjury, while a distraught Gary Dotson, the man she once accused, was sent back to prison Friday.

“I don’t want to be tried for perjury, but I feel Gary deserves not just that judge’s decision,” Cathleen Crowell Webb told a news conference. “I’d like to see a jury of my peers hear the truth.”

The court “did a great injustice” by refusing to believe her, she added.

“I don’t feel defeated, and I’m not going to hang my head,” she said. “I’m going to do everything within the legal boundaries that I can to continue to get him free.”

However, Webb ruled out visiting Dotson in prison.

Dotson, 28, of suburban Country Club Hills, told reporters in a barely audible voice that he was “very upset” as he was returned to the Joliet Correctional Center, but he vowed to continue his quest for release. He had been freed April 4 on $10,000 bond after Webb had stepped forward to recant her testimony.

Dressed in a yellow jump suit, he was returned by bus Friday to Joliet with 147 other prisoners from Cook County.

Because of his depressed mental state, Dotson was placed in the prison’s hospital.

“He will be there over the weekend,” a prison spokesman said. “He’ll be talking to people who can help him and draw him out a bit.”

Webb indicated that she would be willing to speak to Gov. James R. Thompson, who has the power to pardon or grant clemency to Dotson.

Conditions for Clemency

Thompson said at a news conference that, if a clemency petition is submitted, he will order the state Department of Law Enforcement to analyze court testimony and physical evidence in the case and present a report to the Prisoner Review Board.

“I wouldn’t grant clemency unless I was convinced he was wrongfully convicted,” Thompson said.

Webb, who had accused Dotson of raping her in 1977, stood by her contention that he is innocent. “And I’d like to see the court try me now (for perjury), and the other six witnesses,” she said. Webb, 23, is now a mother of two living in Jaffrey, N.H.

Terry Levin, a spokesman for the Cook County state’s attorney, refused to comment Friday on the possibility of perjury charges.

Circuit Judge Richard Samuels ruled Thursday that Dotson did not prove his case, “and I cannot find that perjury was committed” in his trial. Samuels had sentenced Dotson in 1979 to 25 to 50 years in prison.

Dotson’s attorney, Warren Lupel, said he planned to appeal Samuels’ ruling, setting the stage for a possible appeal bond for Dotson. Lupel said he planned also to petition the governor to grant Dotson executive clemency.

In addition to seeking clemency, Dotson has several other legal options. He can ask the Illinois Appellate Court to overturn Samuels’ decision and, if he loses, can appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court.

He could also petition the Circuit Court or state Supreme Court for a different judge to rule on a writ of habeas corpus, contending that he is being wrongly imprisoned based on false testimony.

An appeal would dispute the criteria Samuels used in making his decision.

Dotson will not be eligible for parole until 1988.