Prosecutors Appeal New Trial For Man Convicted In 1985 Rape
SPRINGFIELD (AP) — Prosecutors are appealing a judge's order granting a new trial to a man who spent three decades in prison for a rape conviction based in part on a single strand of hair.
George Perrot was convicted of raping 78-year-old Mary Prekop in her Springfield home in 1985. In January, a judge granted Perrot a new trial after finding that an FBI agent's testimony about microscopic hair evidence was flawed.
Hampden County prosecutors filed a notice in court Tuesday saying they are appealing the judge's order.
The U.S. Department of Justice flagged Perrot's case in 2014 as one of hundreds that involved erroneous statements from FBI agents about hair analysis. The FBI now acknowledges that microscopic hair analysis is not conclusive and uses it only in conjunction with DNA testing.
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