Schirato case: Was justice served?

Why did a jury convict Greg Schirato of rape in the second degree?

I attended Greg Schirato’s trial. He was convicted without sufficient evidence. The rape kit found none of his DNA anywhere on the victim’s body, nor any evidence of sexual activity. He spent the previous evening with the victim, and a minute amount of his touch DNA transferred from her hands to a hook on her bedtime bra strap while she was putting it on

The victim claimed she drove home and passed out. The state toxicologist estimated her blood alcohol level at .03 percent and said she could not have passed out at that level. She testified that she has sexual dreams, and when she woke in the morning thought she’d dreamed that someone touched her breasts and digitally penetrated her. She then claimed to remember her bedroom light clicking on at the time this was happening but didn’t react, didn’t open her eyes, or try to talk to the person.

A basement window was found broken, but no glass was tracked in out of the home, nor were Greg’s fingerprints found anywhere in the house. A seasoned forensic glass scientist testified that the two micro glass particles found on Greg’s jacket were inconclusive and could have come from any bar glass.

During deliberations, the jury asked to hear the 911 tape again. Shortly after came the guilty verdict, which I believe was fueled by emotion rather than evidence.

There are multiple articles about transfer DNA and how this technology has led to convictions of innocent people. tinyurl.com/y8ss9bhz

This story was originally published February 3, 2018 at 2:39 PM with the headline "Schirato case: Was justice served?."