
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 2, 1995                   TAG: 9503020079
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

APPEALS COURT REJECTS CLAIM OVER INVESTIGATION

A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected a claim by a man that his constitutional rights were violated when he was investigated for a 1992 rape he did not commit.

James E. Simmons of Powhatan County contended that police used a racist behavioral profile to locate suspects in the case. But the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said race was only one of 11 factors that investigators considered in establishing a suspect list. Simmons is black.

``The suspects being investigated were evenly divided racially, thus suggesting that the investigation of Simmons was not motivated by race,'' the three-judge panel said.

The victim, an elderly white woman, said she was not sure of the rapist's race because he wore a mask and gloves. A white man later was arrested and pleaded guilty to the crime.

Simmons was taken into custody after police obtained a search warrant to obtain blood samples. DNA testing of the blood eliminated him as a suspect.

by CNB