DNA Helps Return Rapist to Prison

DNA evidence got convicted rapist Kerry Kotler out of prison in 1992. Five years later, DNA evidence helped send him back. Kotler was convicted of raping a 20-year-old college student in 1995. DNA testing of semen on the victim’s clothing showed it matched Kotler’s. In 1992, Kotler was freed after serving 11 years of a 21- to 45-year term when attorneys Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld--the DNA experts on O.J. Simpson’s legal team in his criminal trial--successfully argued that new testing of 11-year-old semen samples produced evidence that could have resulted in acquittal. Kotler, 37, faces a maximum of 25 years in prison for the 1995 rape. Prosecutors in Hauppauge said he impersonated a police officer to stop his victim on the road and tried to rinse away semen after the attack.