Prater v. State

Robert H. Dudley, Justice.

This case determines our standard for the admissibility of novel scientific evidence and the standard for the admissibility of calculations as to probabilities arising from that novel scientific evidence.

The prosecutrix, a seventeen-year-old girl, was raped in a laundromat in southwest Little Rock. She called the police. They quickly responded and began searching the area for the offender. After only a few minutes, the victim spotted the appellant and identified him as the man who had attacked her. He was arrested. She was taken to the University Hospital where her…