Marvin Mitchell

The Crime

On the morning of Sept. 22, 1988, an 11-year-old girl, identified as R.D., reported to her mother that as she was waiting for the school bus in Dorchester, Massachusetts, she had been grabbed by a Black man. She said the man had sexually assaulted her.

R.D. described her assailant as a slim, tall, light-skinned Black man in his late teens or early twenties, with short hair and a long, narrow, clean-shaven face. She noted that he was cross-eyed and wore pinkish pants with a red and white shirt emblem shirt.

R.D.’s mother took her to the emergency pediatric care unit at Boston City Hospital, where a rape kit was collected. Both R.D. and her mother spoke with a detective from the Sexual Assault Unit of the Boston Police.

The Investigation

The following morning, R.D.’s mother drove around the neighborhood looking for someone who might fit her daughter’s description of her assailant. At some point, she spotted 23-year-old Marvin Mitchell — a slim, tall, and reasonably light-skinned black man in his early twenties — on Humboldt Avenue in Roxbury. 

That morning in particular, he wore a sweatshirt with a large red and white emblem. Unlike the assailant, however, Mr. Mitchell had a well-developed mustache and goatee, was not cross-eyed, and did not wear pinkish pants. Still, R.D.’s mother phoned the Area B Police Station and reported that she had located her daughter’s assailant.

Meanwhile, Boston Police Officers Trent Holland and Robin DeMarco learned of the reported rape and were given a description of the assailant. While Mr. Mitchell stood on a Roxbury street corner, the two officers confronted and arrested him for public drinking, although he was never prosecuted for a drinking offense.

Mr. Mitchell was taken to the Area B Police Station. There, he was interrogated by Officer Holland concerning, among other things, what clothes he had worn the previous day. In response, Mr. Mitchell told him that he had worn the same gray pants that he wore at the time of his arrest. 

Both officers would later claim that Mr. Mitchell spontaneously declared that he had worn pinkish pants the day before. Yet, neither officer noted this alleged statement in an incident report, nor did they reported it to the Sexual Assault Unit.

They did, however, notify the Sexual Assault Unit of their suspicion that Mr. Mitchell was R.D.’s attacker. His photograph was placed in an eight-picture photo array and presented to R.D., who said he resembled her attacker. After R.D. confirmed the identification of Mr. Mitchell in a second photo array, he was arrested. 

On Nov. 4, 1988, a grand jury returned a four-count indictment against Mr. Mitchell, alleging two counts of forced sexual intercourse with a minor and two counts of unnatural sexual intercourse with a minor. During the proceeding, a Sexual Assault Unit detective summarized the evidence against Mr. Mitchell, which did not include his purported pink pants admission. 

After the indictment but prior to trial, Officers Holland and DeMarco received the prestigious Commissioner’s Commendation for apprehending Mr. Mitchell.

One month before the January 1990 trial, Officer Holland contacted the prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Leslie O’Brien. He disclosed for the first time Mitchell’s alleged statement about wearing pink pants on the day of the crime. The Commonwealth then added Officer Holland as a witness.

The Trial

The trial began on Jan. 18, 1990, before Suffolk County Superior Court Judge J. Owen Todd. R.D. identified Mr. Mitchell as her attacker. R.D.’s mother testified about spotting Mr. Mitchell on the street.

David Brody of the Boston Police Crime Laboratory testified that the blood and semen found on R.D.’s sweatshirt did not match Mr. Mitchell’s blood type. However, he explained that the victim’s blood type could have been “masking” Mr. Mitchell’s blood type, so he could not be ruled out as the attacker.

Officer Holland was set to be the prosecution’s final witness. However, before he took the stand, Judge Todd ordered an examination of him outside the jury’s presence. During this questioning, Officer Holland stated that during routine booking, Mr. Mitchell admitted he wore pink pants the day before. 

Mr. Mitchell’s attorney objected. Judge Todd then stated that the prosecution had not satisfactorily demonstrated that Mr. Mitchell had waived his Miranda rights before making that statement. At the prosecution’s request, Judge Todd adjourned the trial until the next day to rule on whether Officer Holland could testify.

After court had adjourned, Officer Holland told the prosecutor that Officer DeMarco would also have information relevant to Mr. Mitchell’s alleged statement.

The following day, two local newspapers published articles reporting that Officer Holland, who was currently investigating the high-profile Charles Stuart murder case, had been cited in a recent Massachusetts Appeals Court decision for having possibly committed perjury. 

When the trial resumed that morning, the prosecution agreed that Officer Holland’s testimony would be stricken and he would not be called as a witness.

Officer DeMarco, who had not been subpoenaed to testify and had not been identified by the prosecution as a witness, was then called to testify in place of Officer Holland. She explained that, during Mr. Mitchell’s booking, she and other officers were having a conversation about how people often wear the same clothes every day. Mr. Mitchell supposedly interjected by stating, “I didn’t have these clothes on yesterday … I had pink pants on.” Based on Officer DeMarco’s version of events, Judge Todd held that Mr. Mitchell’s statements were not procured in violation of his Miranda rights and were therefore admissible.

The evidentiary phase of the trial concluded on Jan. 19, 1990. Three days later, on Jan. 23, the jury convicted Mr. Mitchell on one count of forced intercourse with a minor and one count of unnatural sexual intercourse with a minor. Judge Todd sentenced Mr. Mitchell to 9 to 25 years in prison. 

Mr. Mitchell’s appeals were denied.

The Exoneration

During his incarceration, Mr. Mitchell’s mother and brother passed away. He maintained his innocence throughout and vowed to clear his name to honor their memories.

In 1995, Mr. Mitchell contacted attorney David Kelston, asking for help. Mr. Kelston and lawyer Noah Rosmarin took Mr. Mitchell’s case pro bono and arranged for DNA testing. 

In 1997, Cellmark Diagnostics of Germantown, Maryland, conducted the DNA tests. Cellmark reported that Mr. Mitchell was excluded as the source of the biological evidence. 

The defense then filed a motion for a new trial. On April 23, 1997, the Suffolk Superior Court granted Mr. Mitchell’s motion to vacate his convictions and granted him a new trial. Mr. Mitchell was released.

On May 23, 1997, the prosecution dismissed the case.

In 1998, Mr. Mitchell filed a federal lawsuit seeking compensation from the city of Boston. The lawsuit was settled in 2001 for $450,000. He also was awarded $500,000 in compensation from the state of Massachusetts.