Innocence Project: DNA frees Oklahoma man convicted of rape

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – An Oklahoma man who spent more than 30 years in prison for rape is free after the Innocence Project presented DNA evidence it says excluded him from the crime.

Court records show 56-year-old Perry Lott was released Monday.

Lott was sentenced in 1988 to more than 200 years for rape, robbery, burglary and making a bomb threat related to the 1987 attack.

The Innocence Project says District Attorney Paul Smith declined to vacate the convictions, but offered to modify the sentence to time served. Lott accepted to avoid years of litigation and uncertainty.

An Innocence Project attorney and Smith haven’t return calls for comment.

Smith wrote in court filings that the victim identified Lott, but that there could be no DNA match because the attacker wore a condom and gloves.