On the 21st night of September 1975, at just 19 years old, a Tulane student was raped at gunpoint by masked assailants in her home. After calling the police, she was examined and endured the additional trauma of having a SAK collected at the coroner’s office, years before Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner programs existed. Evidence was collected from her home and then stored, untouched, in a New Orleans Police Department attic space. The survivor went on to lead an extraordinary life, but always wondered what happened to her case.

It wasn’t until decades later, when the survivor crossed paths with a member of the Cuyahoga Ohio SAKI team that things finally fell into place for her quest for justice. The dedicated folks from Cuyahoga utilized the SAKI network to see what could be done, leading them to Mary Glass who oversees SAKI in New Orleans.

New Orleans had long been a part of the SAKI program, receiving funding specifically earmarked for cold cases like this one. Cold cases that have everything working against them, creating a near worst-case scenario for prosecution:

• Key personnel from the original investigation were deceased or unavailable
• Critical evidence, including the SAK, crime scene photos, and 911 audio, was missing
• The remaining evidence had been improperly stored in plastic in an attic since 1975
• DNA evidence was highly degraded, yielding only a partial profile
• Outdated and problematic 1975-era case law had to be addressed in court
• The DNA evidence would inevitably be heavily scrutinized during trial

Despite all that, the suspect was identified and successfully prosecuted. Learn how, through determination and collaboration, the case was tried in court, not once, but twice, before the survivor finally got the justice she deserved, and her rapist was sentenced to life in prison. This webinar includes the assistant district attorney’s voir dire, opening and closing statements, excerpts from the trial transcripts, photos, exhibits, DNA, medical and NOPD reports, and victim’s impact statement given at sentencing.