The South Florida man has spent nearly 21 years in prison. He agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for his freedom.
By Associated Press
Published November 16, 2003
MIAMI - A Homestead man who served nearly 21 years in prison for rape could be set free as early as Monday because DNA evidence failed to show he had sex with the victim.
Richard McKinley, convicted in 1983 of raping a girl younger than 12, learned Friday that a semen sample taken from the victim did not match him.
Prosecutors and McKinley's lawyer had negotiated a deal earlier this month that called for his conviction and sentence to be thrown out on the condition he plead no contest to a lesser charge of attempted sexual battery in exchange for his freedom.
Circuit Judge Maria Espinosa Dennis imposed a new sentence of time served Friday.
Defense attorney Ivy Ginsberg said his plea was a practical way to get out of prison and "not an admission of guilt."
Prosecutors agreed to the deal because the alleged victim, now 32, did not want to go through another trial.
The alleged victim still says McKinley, he raped her and that a Homestead police officer witnessed him getting off of her, pulling up his pants and trying to escape, Miami-Dade prosecutor Michael Gilfarb said.
Prosecutors in the 1983 trial built their case around witnesses and not the semen because DNA testing was not available then.
Under the terms of McKinley's plea deal, he will have a felony record and must register with the state as a sexual offender.
Meanwhile, a Broward County man on death row for the murder of an 11-year-old Lauderdale Lakes girl might get a new trial after DNA tests on hair failed to tie him to the crime, his attorney said Friday.
Michael Rivera, 41, is facing execution for the 1986 kidnapping and slaying of Staci Jazvac.
DNA tests on six hairs found on the victim's body did not match either her or Rivera, according to court documents.
Rivera's attorneys will ask a judge Tuesday to order more sophisticated DNA testing to try to determine the source of the unidentified hairs.
Florida inmates are covered under a law allowing them to ask for DNA testing to prove their innocence.
The law took effect two years ago after DNA proved the innocence of two Broward men convicted of murder. One of them was cleared 11 months after he died of cancer on death row.
