LIMA — The attorney for a man whose DNA led to his arrest in several rape cases more than 12 years after they happened said Wednesday his client’s DNA may have been collected illegally.
“I need time to check this out to see if a DNA sample was taken legally in Kansas, which was the whole basis for the phone lineup I.D.,” attorney Greg Novak said.
Novak is representing Lonny M. Lee, 38. Lee is charged with four counts of rape, one count of attempted rape, four counts of felonious assault and one count of kidnapping.
Lee waived his right to a speedy trial Wednesday allowing Judge David Cheney to reschedule his trial for Feb. 8. He will have a motion hearing Dec. 16.
Assistant Allen County Prosecutor Terri Kohlrieser said the real issue is not with DNA but a challenge to the photo lineup. Kohlrieser said she was prepared Wednesday to go forward with proving proper procedures were followed while conducting the photo lineup with victims.
Lee faces up to 95 years in prison and Kohlrieser said the state is no longer offering a plea deal.
Cheney said the case will take some time because the DNA match was made while Lee was in Kansas, which means officials from that state will be involved in the local trial.
After the DNA match, Lima Police Department detectives showed three women a photo lineup and all three picked Lee out as the man who raped them.
The women were severely beaten or choked. A knife was used against one woman, police officials said.
The first rape happened in 2001 on the back steps of an apartment in the 700 block of South Main Street. The next two rapes were in 2002 involving the same victim. That woman was caught in an alley near Eureka and South Main streets in one and in the other the woman was taken to a remote area off South Metcalf Street across from the refinery, police officials said.
The 2003 rape happened at the Royal Inn on West Market Street, police officials said.
Lee became a suspect in 2014 after he was arrested for felony drunken driving. His DNA was taken, which led to the match in Lima on the rape cases that had DNA of an unknown assailant.
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
