Genetic Test Clears Suspect in Rape Case

Genetic “fingerprinting,” a new forensic technique eagerly embraced by prosecutors as a sure-fire method of identifying criminals, worked Wednesday to free a man who had been held on rape charges for four months after the victim identified him as her attacker.

Citing DNA test results, Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Robert Thomas ordered the release of 33-year-old Vincente Garcia, who had been held at County Jail since his arrest minutes after the crime Feb. 27. He had been scheduled to go to trial next month on rape, sodomy and burglary charges.

Garcia had consented to the procedure, which involved comparing a sample of his blood with a sample of semen from the crime scene to determine whether they carried the same genetic code.

“He has been excluded as the perpetrator . . . this shows the system works,” said Deputy Dist. Atty Lynn Reed, who had sought the genetic testing to prove Garcia’s guilt. When the results came back late Tuesday, Reed requested that charges be dismissed. She said that whoever committed the crimes is “still out there.”

Bittersweet was how Deputy Public Defender Stuart Glovin described the outcome. “He wasn’t sentenced to prison, but he did spend four months in custody for a crime he didn’t commit.”

The soft-spoken Garcia, who had maintained his innocence, appeared confused by the action as he walked out of Men’s Central Jail on Wednesday afternoon and into a sea of reporters:

“I’m happy. It was proved that I was innocent,” said Garcia, who learned he was being freed only when he was told to change out of jail blues and into his own clothes. “I don’t understand--they did some analysis. Can you explain it to me?”

He did not get the news in court because of a Sheriff’s Department mix-up that temporarily lost him in the system.

A native of Colima, Mexico, Garcia had lived in the United States for 13 years, most recently in West Los Angeles where he worked as a day laborer, when he was picked up only half a mile from the scene of the crime.

A 73-year-old Venice woman had dialed 911 after a man matching Garcia’s description knocked on her door, then pushed his way in and attacked her. The attacker threatened to kill her if she screamed or reported the crime.

The woman survived, but suffered a heart attack shortly after the rape.

Testifying at Garcia’s preliminary hearing in April, the victim was asked what level of certainty she had that she had identified the right person.

“Absolute,” she said, looking at Garcia.

The woman was upset when an investigator brought her the news about Garcia on Wednesday; her family said they are convinced the DNA test is in error.

DNA, short for deoxyribonucleic acid, is found in all human tissue cells, such as blood, hair, skin and semen. Scientists say the genetic makeup of tissue can be translated into intricate DNA patterns that resemble supermarket bar codes. Except for identical twins, the odds of two people having the same DNA pattern are about 1 in 30 billion, experts say.

Developed four years ago in Great Britain, DNA “fingerprinting” has been used in criminal proceedings in about 30 states, although there is still some disagreement about its reliability.

Los Angeles County prosecutors obtained their first conviction based on DNA evidence in March when a 33-year-old man was found guilty of two sexual assaults in North Hollywood. Conversely, a rape case in downtown Los Angeles was dismissed last month after DNA testing excluded the defendant as a suspect.

The Garcia case was troublesome from the start. Despite the victim’s positive identification of Garcia, she recalled that he spoke clear, unaccented English (Garcia speaks Spanish). Also, Garcia had an alibi for his whereabouts shortly before the attack.

However, he not only met the description the victim gave police, but also fell within a 25% blood grouping of the population who could have committed the crime.