Fact Summary

Joseph Abbitt was accused of raping two girls, ages 13 and 16, at knifepoint early one morning. Evidence from the crime appears to be sparse. Each of the girls was given a rape kit following the incident. Bedding and clothing were collected from the scene. In addition to the rape, the house was robbed during the course of the incident. Prior to this case, Abbitt has been accused of two other rapes, both of which were reduced to misdemeanor chargers to which he pled guilty. Abbitt had previous convictions ranging from robbery to escaping prison to larceny. Additionally, Abbitt had previously served time in jail for some of these crimes.

Investigation Issues
The first issue in the investigation was the identification of Abbitt as the rapist. Before separately identifying Abbitt in a picture line up, the girls told investigators that their attacker looked like Abbit. It seems unclear if the girls were able to get a good look at their attackers face during the incident; several sources seem to indicate it would have been difficult for them to do so. However, Abbitt would have been familiar to the girls. He previously lived two houses over from the girls and had previously been in their home which would have made him a familiar face. DNA appears to be the most significant evidence in Abbitts case. Of the evidence collected at the scene, DNA was only run on a single piece of clothing. The DNA did not match Abbitt, however investigators were unsure if that article of clothing was related to the crime so this evidence seems to have been disregarded. The other DNA tests run were inconclusive. The rape kits collected were not processed during the course of the investigation.

Trial Issues
While the two girls identified Abbitt as their rapist, he maintained he was at work during the time of the crimes. His employer testified to this, however, because there was four years between the crime and the trial the employer

was unable to provide the time card. The other issue seems to be have been that he was convicted solely on witness testimony.

Post-Conviction Issues
At the time of Abbitts case, the police were not legally required to hold on to evidence from the case once all appeals had been exhausted (the law has since been changed in North Carolina). The county clerks office destroyed all of the evidence. Fortunately the police department involved maintained some of the DNA evidence. Initial tests were inconclusive, but the second round of testing did not match Abbitt.

Reintegration Issues
It does not appear as if Abbitt had any particular reintegaration issues. He is an innocence coordinator with the Darryl Hunt Project for Freedom and Innocence.