Man falsely accused in Alice Sebold rape case exonerated

Author Alice Sebold.
Photo: Leonardo Cendamo / Getty Images

On Monday, November 22, four decades later Lovely bones author Alice Sebold charged now 61-year-old Anthony Broadwater with rape, whose conviction was justifiably overturned in court due to what Related press report as “Serious flaws with the 1982 prosecution and related to the wrong person went to jail.” The author said she was raped during her freshman year at Syracuse University in a tunnel near campus. Months later, she discovered Anthony Broadwater, a Black man unrelated to the assault, and brought him to police attention. In the witness stand in court, she wrongly identified him as her rapist, and Broadwater served 16 years in prison. Sebold’s attack became the subject of her debut book, her 1999 memoir Lucky.

The case was reopened when a film adaptation of Sebold’s memoir went into pre-production and executive producer Tim Mucciante “expressed suspicions about Broadwater’s guilt when the first draft of the script was released.” given because it is so different from the book.” Mucciante hired a private investigator and a defense attorney, who found holes in the case, including faulty forensic analysis, and Sebold initially misidentified the man in the police lineup. close because they looked – to quote Lucky – “almost identical.” Before Broadwater’s sentencing, District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said, “I will not end this proceeding by saying, ‘I’m sorry.’ That doesn’t cut it… This should never have happened. ”

Even after his release from prison in 1999, Broadwater lived with the stigma of rape charges and was jailed, saying his position on the New York sex offender registry prevented him from doing so. from job prospects and relationships with friends and family. Sebold has yet to respond to a request for comment from AP.

Update Nov 27, 7:00pm: Film adaptation of Lucky have lost their finances, each Diversity. Victoria Pedretti, who is set the star as Sebold, is no longer involved in the project.