Thomas Doswell

• Alibi

● Three witnesses testified that defendant was asleep on the night of the crime.

“As God is my witness, I did not rape that woman.”

• Eyewitness
• Forensic Evidence

• Serology

• Valid (Non-probative)

The analyst accurately described that all substances observed were consistent with the victim.

• Cross Racial Identification
• Victim

• Photo array

Yes ● Suggestive Line-up – his was only photo marked with an “R” ● Victim not told attacker might not be in line-up. Brady – victim later alleged that detective pressured her to identify Doswell. She stated in affidavit that “[t]he only reason I picked [Doswell] out in the courtroom is because Detective [] told me to and I was afraid of him.”

The detective “asked if she could identify the individual who committed the assaults…” “Out of all those photographs there was only one photograph with an R on it? A. Right. Q. That happens to be the one you picked? A. Right. Q. That didn’t affect your determination was to who it might be, did it? A. No. Q. How about the fact that of all the photographs here, none of the individuals displayed any portion of their body besides the head? A. When I was shown these pictures I seen numbers and looked at the faces only…”

Yes ● Initial nonidentification ● Discrepancies in description – facial hair, bruises on face, neck brace

Defendant had “a Fu Manchu type of mustache” when arrested, unlike the attacker, who had “a full beard.” He had no cuts on face, where the victim had “hit him on the side of the head.” He had brown eyes, unlike the dark black eyes the victim described: “His eyes are different from the eyes you saw that day; is that correct ma’am? Yes.”

Com. v. Doswell, 558 A.2d 531 (Table) (Pa. 1989)