Crime & Safety

Innocent Man Spends 12 Years In Prison For Lake Elsinore Rape

Herman Atkins spent 12 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit.

Wrongful convictions are the subject of the National Registry of Exonerations, a joint project of the University of the Michigan Law School and the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law.

The online Registry includes an up-to-date list of all known exonerations in the United States since 1989.

Among the 891 exonerations documented as of today, one case is from Lake Elsinore and it showcases the power of DNA evidence.

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In 1988, Herman Atkins was sentenced to more than 45 years in prison for robbery, rape, forcible oral copulation, and for using a handgun in the commission of these crimes at a Lake Elsinore shoe store, according to the Registry.

On April 8, 1986, a female victim was working at the shoe store when, sometime between 11:30 a.m. and 12 p.m., she was raped and robbed at gunpoint, according to the Registry. After going to police and seeing a wanted poster of Atkins -- who was being sought on unrelated charges -- along with a photo lineup, the victim identified Atkins as her attacker.

Find out what's happening in Lake Elsinore-Wildomarwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Atkins presented an alibi witness and testified on his own behalf during his court trial and was found guilty. In 1993, his case was accepted by the Innocence Project.

In 1995, the Innocence Project team began trying to gain access to the evidence for DNA testing. It took four years, but in 1999 the team filed a motion to compel the prosecutor to relinquish control of the evidence and send it to a laboratory for the purposes of DNA testing. The motion was granted and the evidence was sent to Forensic Science Associates, according to the National Registry of Exonerations website.

Among the items were the victim’s vaginal swabs taken after the attack, along with her sweater that the attacker had ejaculated on. The vaginal swabs were no longer amenable to DNA testing, but testing was conducted on three separate areas of the victim’s sweater. In all three, the results were consistent: The spermatozoa found were determined to be from someone other than Atkins, according to the Registry.

Based on the test results, Herman Atkins was released from prison in February 2000, after spending 12 years behind bars.

For more information about the case and to read about other exonerations, click here.

To read more about Atkins' story, visit the California Innocence Project.


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