DNA helps secure guilty verdict of accused rapist

A jury on Wednesday convicted a Nashville man of attempted aggravated rape and other charges based in part on DNA removed from bite marks he gave his victim.

It took a Davidson County jury only a few hours to render a guilty verdict against Larry Pinex, who now faces between eight and 60 years for his assault and attempted rape.

The victim was able to fight Pinex off enough to prevent him from raping her. During the scuffle though, Pinex bit the victim several times. His attorney’s claimed the bites were a result of the fight, while the state countered they were the result of the defendant’s sexual gratification.

TBI Special Agent Charles Hardy was able to analyze the saliva preserved in two of those bite marks. Hardy testified the DNA found in one particular bite mark matched that of Pinex without question.

“The probability of an unrelated individual having the same DNA profile [as Pinex] exceeds the current world population,” Hardy wrote in his official report, which he read to the jury a day before its members convicted Pinex.

Assistant District Attorney Kathy Morante, who tried the case on behalf of the state, said the physical DNA evidence linking Pinex to the wounds on the victim were instrumental in securing a verdict of guilt.

It also left the defense team with no way to contest that Pinex was, in fact, the man responsible for the victim’s injuries, Morante said.

“Because there was such strong DNA proof, the defendant was not able to contest that he was the person involved in the crime,” Morante added.

“After that, it came down to our victim being extremely credible,” she continued, saying that the jury ultimately believed the state’s claim that the reason Pinex was in the victim’s apartment was to rape her.

Other evidence was, of course, influential, Morante said, noting the presentation of a hat belonging to the defendant found in the victim’s apartment, as well as pictures of bruises appearing on the victim’s neck the morning after the attack.

“But I think that juries today have just come to expect DNA evidence,” Morante said. “So it’s always wonderful to have.”