MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Testimony in the trial of a former Memphis Police officer accused of raping a woman who called for help began Tuesday, after evidence in the case sat untested for years.
Bridges Randle is accused of committing the crime in 2000, when a woman says she called police because her car had been vandalized.
The woman says police did show up at her Hickory Hill apartment, but one of them later came back and raped her at gunpoint.
Then, the case sat cold for 14 years.
It was among the thousands of backlogged rape kits in Memphis. When the victim’s rape kit was finally processed, the DNA evidence from that kit was linked to Randle.
Not too long after, Randle was charged in the case.
His attorneys argued the case should have been dismissed because the statue of limitations had passed and said Randle was denied his due process.
In 2004, Randle pleaded guilty in a similar case.
He served a year of probation after pleaded guilty to official oppression in the case of another woman who said Randle sexually assaulted her.
WREG will keep you posted as the trial continues.
