Man Freed on DNA Evidence Held in Rape

A man who was convicted of raping a woman twice, then released 11 years later with the help of O.J. Simpson’s DNA experts, was arrested Monday and charged with raping another woman.

Kerry Kotler was freed in 1992 from a 21-to-45-year sentence after attorneys Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld argued that tests of 11-year-old semen in the victim’s underpants showed it wasn’t Kotler’s.

“The irony of Mr. Kotler’s present involvement should not escape anyone,” said Dist. Atty. James Catterson, who had fought against Kotler’s release.

Kotler pleaded innocent Monday to charges of kidnapping and raping a 20-year-old college student Aug. 12 in Islandia, on Long Island. He was ordered held on $25,000 bail.

The indictment accuses Kotler of signaling the woman to pull to the side of a highway and identifying himself as a police officer. He then forced her at knifepoint into his car, drove to a wooded area and raped her, the indictment says.

Prosecutor Randy Hinrichs said DNA testing of semen on the woman’s clothing linked the 1995 case to Kotler, and dog hairs from the woman’s clothing match those of Kotler’s German shepherd. Also, he said, a partial license plate provided by the victim matched a car registered to Kotler’s girlfriend.

Kotler was convicted in 1981, before the existence of DNA testing that would later clear him, of raping a woman twice. The woman testified she was raped in 1978 by a man who walked into her house exactly three years later, announced “I’m back,” and raped her again.

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The 48-year-old mother of three said in a 1992 interview that she was sure Kotler was the rapist.

Kotler “was face-to-face with me,” she said. “He tormented me. He spoke to me. He cut me up with a razor. How can I not know who did this to me?”

But her testimony was no match for DNA evidence.

Scheck and Neufeld argued that the DNA test results showed the semen could not have belonged to Kotler. Catterson argued that the tests did not exclude Kotler, but he dismissed the indictment rather than pursue a new trial.

Kotler then won a civil suit for unjust imprisonment. He is awaiting a judgment on the amount of damages.

Neither Scheck nor Neufeld immediately returned telephone calls Monday.