Syracuse, NY - A Syracuse man who had been serving 17 years in state prison when his rape conviction was overturned on appeal was set free after being acquitted Wednesday in a retrial. Defense lawyer Christine Cook said the Onondaga County Court jury deliberated about an hour before finding Tyrone D. Loftin “not guilty” of first-degree rape and first-degree sexual...
Syracuse, NY - A Syracuse man who had been serving 17 years in state prison when his rape conviction was overturned on appeal was set free after being acquitted Wednesday in a retrial.
Defense lawyer Christine Cook said the Onondaga County Court jury deliberated about an hour before finding Tyrone D. Loftin “not guilty” of first-degree rape and first-degree sexual abuse charges.
Loftin, 50, of Lincoln Avenue, had been accused of forcibly sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman who had been helping him clean his house in April 2008.
Another County Court jury convicted Loftin in September 2008 and County Judge William Walsh sentenced him to serve 17 years in state prison.
But the state Supreme Court Appellate Division in Rochester overturned the conviction in March, ruling Walsh improperly limited the defense from cross examining the victim about her accusations in a similar incident involving an ex-boyfriend.
The appellate court also concluded Walsh should have held a pre-trial hearing to address the admissibility of some statements about “prior bad acts” unrelated to the rape case that were attributed to Loftin by the police.