At the defense’s request, the results were sent to the State Bureau of Investigation’s DNA database and the database showed a match with the convict who had earlier confessed to the crime to a fellow inmate in prison. The samples from one victim were tested and showed no match to Cotton. But in the spring of 1995, his case was given a major break: the Burlington Police Department turned over all evidence, which included the assailant’s semen for DNA testing, to the defense. He was sentenced to life in prison plus fifty-four years.Ĭotton was unsuccessful overturning his conviction in several appeals. In a second trial, in November 1987, Cotton was convicted of both rapes and two counts of burglary. In January 1985, Cotton was convicted by a jury of one count of rape and one count of burglary. The evidence at trial included a flashlight found in Cotton’s home that resembled one used by the assailant and rubber from Cotton’s shoe that was consistent with rubber found at one of the crime scenes, but overwhelmingly the evidence rested on the identification and the flawed eyewitness identification procedures used by police at the time. In July 1984, an assailant broke into Jennifer Thompson-Cannino’s apartment and sexually assaulted her later that night, the assailant broke into another apartment and sexually assaulted a second woman.
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