20-year-old rape conviction overturned
The Utah Supreme Court has overturned a man's 1988 conviction for raping an American Fork woman, citing a string of errors made by lawyers and the courts.
Justices on Friday said the Utah County Attorney's Office should have been disqualified from prosecuting Carl McClellan because his defense lawyer joined the office three days before his trial.
The high court also cited errors that prevented McClellan's appeal from reaching it earlier.
McClellan was prosecuted for raping a woman he had tried to sell cleaning supplies to as a door-to-door salesman. He was sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of first-degree rape.
It was unclear whether prosecutors would seek to retry the case against the now 45-year-old McClellan.
Recent comments
I doubt he ever served the time..The conviction was overturned and he...
Time | Aug. 1, 2009 at 10:29 p.m.
He probably served his time and was released but he would want to...
Anonymous | Aug. 1, 2009 at 4:23 p.m.
I am with anonymous I don't get the story. If he served his five...
AZ | Aug. 1, 2009 at 4:16 p.m.
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