Mercer Corrections Officer Wins Exoneration in Double Sexual Assault Case, State Drops Charges

lostapwbm · 2018-02-23T15:17:08+00:00

The state’s case against Ryland began to unravel from the moment he had his day in court to challenge the probable cause of his arrest.

The state initially wanted to place Ryland on pretrial detention, but Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Renee Robeson ultimately backed down and consented to Ryland being placed on home confinement last November after Ziegelheim presented an alibi defense in Superior Court. Then the prosecution suddenly backpedaled earlier this month when the state on Feb. 1 consented to giving Ryland more freedom to travel under electronic monitoring.

The state took temporary possession of Ryland’s vehicle and cellphone and obtained a DNA sample from him last fall to see if they could find any evidence linking him to either of the October 2017 sex assaults that occurred in Trenton’s West Ward. Apparently the state did not find anything incriminating and subsequently returned Ryland’s vehicle and cellphone back into his possession.

The sordid allegations behind the October 2017 anal rape assaults portrayed Ryland as a monstrous predator, but the case from the get-go had shortcomings from a prosecutorial point of view where the state has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Police charged Ryland with the Oct. 12 assault because he matched a physical description and drove a car that matched the description of the suspect’s vehicle and because the location and nature of the rape was “consistent” with the Oct. 6 attack that Ryland was initially charged with, according to charging documents.

The police essentially determined that the man who committed the Oct. 6 assault must have been the same man who committed the Oct. 12 assault, but Ryland had ironclad proof that he was nowhere near Cadwalader or Stacy parks when the Oct. 12 rape occurred.

Title	Mercer Corrections Officer Wins Exoneration in Double Sexual Assault Case, State Drops Charges
Author	lostapwbm
Upvotes	26
Comments	1
Date	February 23, 2018 3:13 PM UTC (8 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/7zopwx/mercer_corrections_officer_wins_exoneration_in/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/mercer-corrections-officer-wins-exoneration-in.1179323 https://theredarchive.com/post/1179323

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