Today’s creativity in defense award goes to 20-year-old Marcelles Peter and his attorney, who are attempting to nullify DNA evidence by claiming that it was transferred by the wind.
Peters is one of the six men charged in the gang rape of a 15-year-old Richmond high-schooler in 2009. The San Francisco Bay-area rape case garnered quite a bit of attention after the brutal nature of the crime was disclosed.
On the night of the crime, the victim was leaving a homecoming dance at the school and was asked to join a large group of males in the campus courtyard. After the victim and the perpetrators drank copious amounts of alcohol, tre victim was propositioned for sex – an offer she refused. The men proceeded to beat and rape the girl for hours.
One bystander described the attack as such:
“They were kicking her in her head and they were beating her up, robbing her and ripping her clothes off; it’s something you can’t get out your mind. I saw people, like, dehumanizing her; I saw some pretty crazy stuff. She was pretty quiet; I thought she was like dead for a minute but then I saw her moving around.”
Now, years later, Peter has a creative defense that he hopes will call into question his role in the attack. According to Fox News, his claim is that wind from a police helicopter must have carried his DNA from a beer can to a broken used condom found at the scene.
Peter’s trial has just begun. Last year Manuel Ortega, the oldest defendant in the case, admitted guilt and was sentenced to 32 years in prison. Another defendant, Ari Morales, was sentenced to 27 years in prison this January. The other defendants are still awaiting trial.
[Photo via KTVU]