Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Three young men accused of raping a young woman have pleaded guilty to lesser charges after deputy missteps hampered the case.
The Idaho Statesman reports Elias Lupango, Swedi Iyombelo and Mulanga Rashidi were charged in February with the felony rape of a woman with whom they had asked to hang out in Kuna.
Ada County prosecutor Tanner Stellmon says because of problems with how their Miranda rights were administered by Ada County sheriff's deputies, in-custody interviews with the suspects were suppressed, making felony rape charges difficult to prove.
Each defendant was given four years of supervised probation. The suspects were sentenced to a year in jail but given credit for about 200 days served, with the remainder suspended.
Prosecutors say a 16-year-old in the case was expected to reach a similar deal in juvenile court.
Sheriff's Office spokesman Patrick Orr says the sheriff's office has since done further training to avoid making the mistake in the future.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
