| Alejandro Dominguez | ||
 | Incident Year: 1990 Jurisdiction: IL Charge: Rape, Home Invasion Conviction: Rape, Home Invasion Sentence: 9 Years |
Year of Conviction: 1990 Exoneration Date: 4/26/02 Sentence Served: 4 Years Real perpetrator found? Not Yet Contributing Causes: Eyewitness Misidentification, Unvalidated or Improper Forensic Science Compensation? Yes |
In 1990, Alejandro Dominguez, then a 16 year-old Mexican national, was convicted and sentenced to 9 years in prison for the rape of a white woman in Illinois.
Dominquez's conviction was based primarily on the victim's identification. The eyewitness identification procedure employed by the investigators was biased and highly suggestive. On cross examination, the victim testified that the lead detective had singled out Dominguez during the lineup and asked the victim if he was "the one." She concurred. This identification was also undermined by the victim's own disregarded testimony in which her description of the attacker did not match Dominguez. She told police that her attacker wore a diamond earring and had a tattoo, but Dominquez had neither a pierced ear nor any tattoos. She also said that he spoke to her in English, but Dominquez only spoke Spanish.
Forensics also played a part in Dominguez's conviction. William Wilson, a forensic serologist from Northern Illinois Crime Laboratory, testified that serological testing on semen recovered from the victim could not exclude Dominguez. He said 64% of men were excluded as possible perpetrators by the sample, but failed to explain that the victim's sample could have "masked" the perpetrator's. Serology testing showed that the victim and the perpetrator shared the same blood group markers. When the evidence being tested is a mixed stain of semen from the perpetrator and vaginal secretions from the victim – and testing does not detect blood group substance or enzymes foreign to the victim – no potential semen donor can be excluded because the victim’s blood group markers could be “masking” the perpetrator’s. Under such circumstances, the failure to inform the jury that 100% of the male population could be included and that none can be excluded is highly misleading.
Dominguez served four years of a nine year sentence. After Immigration and Naturalization Service threatened to deport him for failing to register his conviction in 2001, he sought DNA testing, at his own expense, to prove his innocence. Dominguez was officially exonerated on April 26, 2002, after DNA testing proved that he could not have deposited the semen left by the perpetrator.
Dominquez's conviction was based primarily on the victim's identification. The eyewitness identification procedure employed by the investigators was biased and highly suggestive. On cross examination, the victim testified that the lead detective had singled out Dominguez during the lineup and asked the victim if he was "the one." She concurred. This identification was also undermined by the victim's own disregarded testimony in which her description of the attacker did not match Dominguez. She told police that her attacker wore a diamond earring and had a tattoo, but Dominquez had neither a pierced ear nor any tattoos. She also said that he spoke to her in English, but Dominquez only spoke Spanish.
Forensics also played a part in Dominguez's conviction. William Wilson, a forensic serologist from Northern Illinois Crime Laboratory, testified that serological testing on semen recovered from the victim could not exclude Dominguez. He said 64% of men were excluded as possible perpetrators by the sample, but failed to explain that the victim's sample could have "masked" the perpetrator's. Serology testing showed that the victim and the perpetrator shared the same blood group markers. When the evidence being tested is a mixed stain of semen from the perpetrator and vaginal secretions from the victim – and testing does not detect blood group substance or enzymes foreign to the victim – no potential semen donor can be excluded because the victim’s blood group markers could be “masking” the perpetrator’s. Under such circumstances, the failure to inform the jury that 100% of the male population could be included and that none can be excluded is highly misleading.
Dominguez served four years of a nine year sentence. After Immigration and Naturalization Service threatened to deport him for failing to register his conviction in 2001, he sought DNA testing, at his own expense, to prove his innocence. Dominguez was officially exonerated on April 26, 2002, after DNA testing proved that he could not have deposited the semen left by the perpetrator.
| Alejandro Dominguez | ||
| Incident Year: 1990 Jurisdiction: IL Charge: Rape, Home Invasion Conviction: Rape, Home Invasion Sentence: 9 Years |
Year of Conviction: 1990 Exoneration Date: 4/26/02 Sentence Served: 4 Years Real perpetrator found? Not Yet Contributing Causes: Eyewitness Misidentification, Unvalidated or Improper Forensic Science Compensation? Yes |