Man Freed After Serving 28 Years On Rape Conviction To Be Retried

DENVER (CBS4) - Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey plans to retry a man released from prison after 28 years behind bars.

Clarence Moses-El was released in December after serving time on a rape conviction. He was convicted in the 1987 sexual assault of a woman in Five Points. After serving nearly three decades behind bars he was released on bond after another inmate came forward who claimed he was the one who had sex with the woman.

Since his release prosecutors have been moving ahead with hearings without a firm decision on whether they would proceed with a retrial -- until Monday when they announced the decision for a retrial.

The district attorney's office said it had to reconnect with witnesses from many years ago. Their recollections in the Moses-El case all these years later could be a factor in the outcome of the new trial.

Among those contacted was the victim in the case who gave other possible suspect identifications at first but named Moses-El after having a dream.

Moses-El earlier told CBS4's Rick Sallinger that he's not worried about going back to prison. His attorneys didn't return calls from CBS4 seeking a response on the important decision by the district attorney to retry their client.

The trial is currently set for May.