NEW YORK (AP/ 1010 WINS) -- Three years ago, Carol Dickerson broke her silence about a violent rape she suffered a decade earlier, telling lawmakers they could help solve cold cases like hers by routinely collecting DNA from convicted felons.
The law passed, and on Friday for Dickerson finally enjoyed the fruits of her labor.
A Queens jury deliberated for less than 20 minutes before convicting a repeat felon named Richard Thomas of the horrific attack on Dickerson in 1996, as well as the 2004 rape of a 12-year-old girl.
Both crimes had gone unsolved for years, until authorities, acting on the law that Dickerson helped pass, collected a DNA sample from Thomas after he was jailed for an unrelated theft.
It turned out to be a match for samples linked to both the 1996 and 2004 rapes.
Thomas now faces the prospect of decades in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced in November. His attorney did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press following the trial on Friday afternoon.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown praised the victim herself for helping to make the case possible.
Dickerson and a companion were hauled from their car at gunpoint in 1996 by a male assailant, who then imprisoned the male victim in the trunk while he raped Dickerson in a vacant lot.
A DNA sample believed to have been left by the attacker was collected after the crime, but at the time investigators were unable to link it to a suspect.
E-Mail Story
Print Story
