Gov. Thompson Calls Emergency Meeting of Board to Consider Clemency in Rape Case
Gov. James R. Thompson on Tuesday asked the Illinois Prisoner Review Board to meet in an emergency session on May 9 to consider a clemency request for a man convicted of a rape his accuser now says never happened.
Thompson has finished reading transcripts of Gary Dotson’s 1979 rape trial and a hearing held last month on a motion to free Dotson, an aide said. The clemency hearing will be the first Thompson has attended since becoming governor in 1977.
The Illinois Court of Appeals is expected to rule today on whether Dotson will be released from prison on bond while his lawyer, Warren Lupel, seeks a new trial. Dotson, 28, is serving a 25- to 50-year sentence.
Cathleen Crowell Webb, who now lives in Jaffrey, N.H., said she made up the rape story because she thought she was pregnant with her former boyfriend’s child.
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