Dotson Free on Bond Again, Awaits Appeal

Gary Dotson, convicted of a rape his accuser now says never happened, walked out of prison Wednesday for the second time in a month after his mother posted a $10,000 cash bond.

“You can’t beat freedom,” Dotson told an applauding crowd as he emerged from prison. He added, “I’m just running through a revolving door, it seems. I’m beginning to feel like a pinball.”

But his mother, Barbara Dotson, said that, although further legal battles lie ahead, she feels that this time her son is out of prison for good.

“I don’t know why, I just feel it,” she said, moments before posting the bond.

‘Still Cautious’

“Yesterday, when we first told him about the bond, he was calm. But, later, I talked to him, and he was more excited,” added Barbara Dotson, 48, of suburban Country Club Hills. “But he’s still cautious. He’s been let down before.”

Dotson, 28, has served six years on rape and aggravated kidnaping charges. On April 11, Circuit Judge Richard Samuels refused to vacate Dotson’s conviction and 25- to 50-year sentence.

Dotson was convicted in 1979. But Cathleen Crowell Webb now says that she lied about being raped and wants to see Dotson freed.

Returned to Jail

Dotson was released from the maximum security prison at Joliet, Ill., on bond on April 4. But he was sent back to prison on April 11 when Samuels ruled that Webb’s new story was not convincing.

The Illinois Supreme Court ordered Dotson freed on bond Tuesday while his attorney appeals the decision by Samuels, who had presided at Dotson’s rape trial.