COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The Ohio Supreme Court is being asked to decide whether an adult identified as a suspect in a rape he allegedly committed as a teenager can be prosecuted.
The issue heard before the court Thursday involves the long-unsolved rape of a 14-year-old girl in 1993 in Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH’-guh) County.
Defendant Darlell Orr was indicted in 2013 for the attack after a DNA sample taken when he was arrested on a murder charge matched DNA from the 20-year-old attack.
A county judge and a state appeals court ruled that laws in place in 1993 barred juveniles from being prosecuted as adults.
That law changed in 1997, and prosecutors say Orr can be brought to trial. Attorneys for Orr say applying that change in law retroactively is unconstitutional.
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