Douglas Pacyon was exonerated on June 21, 2010 — nearly 25 years after he was convicted of a Buffalo, New York, area rape he didn’t commit. He served five years in prison before he was released in 1990, but continued to seek DNA testing after his release in order to clear his name.

The Crime

In the spring of 1984, two rapes occurred within four days of each other in Cheektowaga (a suburb of Buffalo), that appeared to have been committed by the same perpetrator. In the first incident, a 26-year-old woman was attacked outside her home on May 26; a 21-year-old woman was assaulted four days later. In both incidents, the rapist was armed with a handgun and the victims’ purses were emptied on the ground but nothing was taken. Both victims provided similar descriptions of their attacker.

The Investigation

Police created composite sketches based on the victims’ descriptions. The sketch was widely circulated and resulted in a lead implicating 28-year-old Douglas Pacyon. Patrol officers believed that Pacyon resembled the composite sketch and called him over to the car. News of the crime had already spread through the neighborhood. Pacyon allegedly asked “Oh, this is about the rape, isn’t it?” and indicated that he had been in the area at the time of the crimes. However, Pacyon repeatedly asserted his innocence immediately. 

Both victims identified Pacyon in a lineup, and he was arrested. He was charged with the rapes on June 14, 1984.

The Trial

At trial, one of the victims identified Pacyon in court as her attacker, but the other victim expressed some doubts. Pacyon then attempted to have the two rape charges severed, but they were tried together. At the trial, Pacyon presented alibi testimony—that he was home asleep during the first attack and at a friend’s house during the second. On May 1, 1985, following a five-day trial and eight hours of jury deliberations, Pacyon was found guilty of rape in the first degree and criminal use of a firearm in the May 30 incident and acquitted of the other rape. He was sentenced to two concurrent terms of 3 1/3 to 10 years in prison.

Post-Conviction

Pacyon was paroled in April 1991, but he continued to try to clear his name. He repeatedly appealed his conviction throughout the 1990s on various grounds. Attorney Thomas C. D’Agostino secured DNA testing for Pacyon in 2008. 

In 2009, Y-STR DNA testing was conducted by the Erie County Central Police Services forensic lab on the sperm from vaginal and cervical swabs from the rape kit of the second victim (the one Pacyon was convicted of raping). Testing revealed an unknown male profile and excluded Pacyon. Exhaustive DNA testing of sexual assault pathology slides showed that both victims had been raped by the same unknown man, and that Pacyon was excluded as a donor of genetic materials.

Citing the new DNA evidence, the Erie County District Attorney joined a motion to dismiss Pacyon’s indictment. His conviction was formally dismissed on June 21, 2010.