A man sentenced to life in prison for raping a Colorado woman and
strangling her to death with a dog leash could be freed on Monday based
on advanced DNA testing that is believed to exonerate him of the crime.
Robert "Rider" Dewey, 51, who has been imprisoned since his 1996 conviction, is scheduled to appear before a Colorado judge on Monday in Grand Junction for a post-conviction hearing in his case, according to the county's court docket.
Dewey was convicted and sentenced to life without parole for the rape and murder of Jacie Taylor, 19, in the western Colorado town of Palisade. Taylor's partially clothed body was found in her bathtub in June 1994. She had been beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled with the leash.
Bert Nieslanik, head of the Office of Alternate Defense Counsel in Mesa County, distributed an email last week announcing that Dewey’s exoneration will be the subject of a news conference expected to for 10 a.m. (noon ET) Monday, The Daily Sentinel reported. Dewey, who has maintained his innocence in the slaying is expected to be released from custody Monday, according to the email.
Dewey's lawyer, Danyel Joffe, would not comment on what the DNA tests may have revealed ahead of Monday's hearing, according to Reuters.
However, Stephen Laiche, one of two attorneys who defended Dewey at 1996 trial, praised Mesa County District Attorney Pete Hautzinger's office, The Daily Sentinel reported.
"They could have fought us on this thing, but they realized they had an innocent man," he told the newspaper. "It makes me wonder what we could have done differently."
Robert "Rider" Dewey, 51, who has been imprisoned since his 1996 conviction, is scheduled to appear before a Colorado judge on Monday in Grand Junction for a post-conviction hearing in his case, according to the county's court docket.
Dewey was convicted and sentenced to life without parole for the rape and murder of Jacie Taylor, 19, in the western Colorado town of Palisade. Taylor's partially clothed body was found in her bathtub in June 1994. She had been beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled with the leash.
Bert Nieslanik, head of the Office of Alternate Defense Counsel in Mesa County, distributed an email last week announcing that Dewey’s exoneration will be the subject of a news conference expected to for 10 a.m. (noon ET) Monday, The Daily Sentinel reported. Dewey, who has maintained his innocence in the slaying is expected to be released from custody Monday, according to the email.
Dewey's lawyer, Danyel Joffe, would not comment on what the DNA tests may have revealed ahead of Monday's hearing, according to Reuters.
However, Stephen Laiche, one of two attorneys who defended Dewey at 1996 trial, praised Mesa County District Attorney Pete Hautzinger's office, The Daily Sentinel reported.
"They could have fought us on this thing, but they realized they had an innocent man," he told the newspaper. "It makes me wonder what we could have done differently."
