Jul 23, 8:03 PM
Judge orders retest of rape-case evidence
BY JOHN A. TORRES
FLORIDA TODAY
VIERA -- Convicted rapist Wilton Dedge's future hinges on a 22-year-old fracture of a sperm cell preserved on a slide.
In a decision that further delays Dedge's motion for a retrial or release -- based on favorable DNA evidence, Judge Preston Silvernail ordered a new, sophisticated test be done on a tiny sliver of evidence. Standard DNA testing of the 1980s yielded no conclusive results.
Dedge has served 22 years in prison for the 1981 rape of a Canaveral Groves teenager. Tried twice, he has continuously maintained his innocence. DNA testing done on pubic hair found in the rape victim's bed prove it does not belong to Dedge, as prosecutors contended during Dedge's two trials.
Earlier this week, defense witness Sudhir Sinha, president and lab director of Reliagene Technologies, stunned a crowded and hushed courtroom by announcing that new Y-chromosome testing has become available and could be used on the fracture of a semen cell taken from an anal swab of the victim.
Assistant State Attorney Wayne Holmes called Sinha's disclosure a "Perry Mason moment."
http://www.floridatoday.com/!NEWSROOM/localstoryN0724DEDGE.htm
