DOVER, Del. (AP) - Nearly forty years after a teen girl was raped in Delaware, the man convicted will be released after the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice determined testimony was "invalid."
The News Journal cites court documents that say dismissing the indictment against 56-year-old Elmer Daniels is the "most just outcome." The Superior Court has to accept the state's motion.
In 1980, FBI Special Agent Michael Malone testified at Daniels' trial that hair evidence linked him to the assault. Authorities say that testimony "exceeded the limits of science."
The state cannot retry the case, because the evidence was destroyed after Daniels appealed to the Delaware Supreme Court and lost. Prosecutors had no other suspects and could not find the victim.
The state's filing would also remove Daniels from the sex offender registry.
