Charges Dropped Against Rape Suspect

NEW BEDFORD -- The Bristol County district attorney dropped charges against two Stoughton men charged with gang-raping an Easton woman last year.

Citing a lack of evidence, the district attorney�s office decided Friday not to prosecute James Baker, 32, and his father-in-law, Arthur Weir, 55, after alleged victim Patricia Ross refused this week to testify about doctored tapes in the case.

The decision follows a series of test results -- including a DNA test -- that failed to back up Ross� story.

Baker was arrested after Ross told police that Baker, her former lover, and three other men broke into her Easton home, raped her at gunpoint, then drove her to a garage and raped her again.

Weir was arrested four months later after Ross said she recognized his voice at a Little League game.

Ross later gave police tape recordings of harassing phone calls Baker allegedly made to her. Baker was charged with additional crimes related to violating Ross� restraining order against him, according to court documents.

Baker claimed that the tapes were spliced compilations of conversations that occurred years ago. A Cambridge company, Sensimetrics, analyzed the tapes, as did the FBI�s Engineering and Research Division.

Both analyses determined that the tapes were �fraudulent,� according to court documents.

Baker�s attorney, Robert A. George, asked the court to examine her future testimony. At a hearing Tuesday, Ross invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

By The Associated Press

Posted Jul 23, 2000

Updated Jan 11, 2011