New York Paralegal Blog

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the indictment of STEVEN CARTER, 49, for the rape and murder of Antoinette Bennett in 1986. The crime remained unsolved for 24 years, but the case was reopened last year by the Manhattan DA’s Forensic Sciences/Cold Case Unit, which was created in April 2010 and is reviewing thousands of unsolved homicides dating back to the 1970s. After a thorough re-examination of evidence and the use of new forensic techniques, investigators from the District Attorney’s Office uncovered sufficient evidence to charge CARTER with murder. CARTER is charged with two counts of Murder in the Second Degree, including one count of murder for causing the victim’s death during the commission of a felony rape.[1] “The Office’s new Cold Case Unit uses advances in DNA technology to solve homicides,” said District Attorney Vance. “The victim’s valiant fight for her life—in which she clawed at her attacker, scraping his skin—made today’s indictment...

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the indictment of LERIO GUERRERO, 32, for the rape and burglary of a 28-year old woman as she entered her apartment building in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 1998. GUERRERO was not apprehended after the assault, but DNA from the attack was recovered and entered into a DNA database maintained by the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME). The DNA profile was indicted in April 2005 as a “John Doe.” GUERRERO is charged with Rape in the First Degree, Sodomy in the First Degree, Burglary in the First Degree, Robbery in the First Degree, and Attempt to Commit the Crime of Robbery in the First Degree. “For 13 years, the victim waited for justice,” District Attorney Vance said. “Thanks to DNA technology, we were able to file an indictment in this case before the statute of limitations expired, despite not having a suspect in custody. When we consider what a powerful tool DNA evidence is for solving crime, ...

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the sentencing of CURTIS TUCKER, 46, to 15 years in prison for the vicious assault of a 15-year-old as she attempted to exit her apartment building in 2004. Although the defendant was not apprehended after the attack, his DNA was recovered from evidence at the scene, and was indicted as a "John Doe" case in January 2007. Following TUCKER's 2010 conviction for the unrelated burglary and assault of a 74-year-old man, his DNA was collected and added to the state's DNA databank, where it matched the attempted rape case. On April 21, 2010, the defendant pleaded guilty to Robbery in the First Degree and Attempted Rape in the First Degree. “DNA evidence solves crimes, and today’s sentence brings a small measure of justice to a young woman who was introduced to our criminal justice system far too early in her life,” said District Attorney Vance. “This case went unsolved for seven years, and took just three day...

SACRAMENTO - California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today released a detailed forensic analysis showing that DNA collected at arrests -- even for non-violent offenses -- is "cracking cold cases" by providing positive identification of suspects in violent crimes such as rape, murder and robbery. Proposition 69, which voters passed in 2004, required law enforcement officials to take DNA samples from all adults arrested for felonies in the state. So far it is working: more than 800 crime-scene samples have been matched since the beginning of last year to DNA collected from suspects under arrest.