Commonwealth v. E.T.

Client was walking down a side street in Center City Philadelphia when he was approached by the victim and two of his friends. The victim allegedly accused the client of sex offenses, raping him seven years prior when he was 13 years old. The victim reported that after hearing the accusation, E.T. stabbed him repeatedly with a knife, causing massive injuries. At trial, the defense did not dispute the identification of E.T., or the severity of the injuries, but proved that E.T. could not have been the rapist and that E.T. acted in self-defense. The defense was able to show that detectives actually hid exculpatory evidence regarding the identity of the rapist for purposes of negating a self-defense argument. E.T. was acquitted of the most serious charges and found guilty only of the misdemeanor charge of simple assault for negligently causing bodily injury with a deadly weapon. In a case where the prosecution was going to request a prison sentence far in excess of 10 to 20 years, it is not expected E.T. will receive any jail time.