After spending more than 20 years in prison for the rape of a police officer's wife that he did not commit, a man could not convince a judge he was subjected to malicious prosecution and deprived of a fair trial.

Eastern District Judge Sandra Townes (See Profile) said law enforcement had probable cause at the time to arrest and prosecute Scott Fappiano for the 1983 rape, though DNA evidence decades later cleared him of the crime.

In granting summary judgment, Townes said police had a positive identification of Fappiano by the victim. Moreover, while forensic testing showed Fappiano was not the semen and saliva donor on certain items, Townes said, “these ambiguous facts, alone, did not rebut the presumption of probable cause” that attached with the indictment.