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SUPCO Reinstates Charges In Case That Could Impact Efforts To Process Backlog Of Rape Kits

Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections

The Ohio Supreme Court has reinstated rape and kidnapping charges against a Cleveland man who argued that a long delay in indicting him was unconstitutional.   At issue was the 2013 indictment of Demetrius Jones for a 1993 rape based on testing of an old rape kit.  Jones' attorneys says police knew from the beginning Jones was a suspect and closed the case after a limited investigation. Prosecutors and advocacy groups for rape victims said a lower court's dismissal of the charges created a legal precedent that could jeopardize thousands of unsolved rapes being reinvestigated.  The justices reinstated the charges and ordered an appeals court to reconsider Jones' arguments using a different legal standard.

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