Man cleared in '92 rape charged with beating girlfriend

Just one day after being cleared of rape charges for which he spent 22 years in prison, a Detroit man has found himself back in trouble with the law.

Kevin Lackey, 45, was charged Friday with domestic violence and weapons charges, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.

Lackey was arraigned in 36th District Court and given a $20,000 bond, 10 percent payable. His attorney for the domestic violence case, Todd Perkins, said Lackey's family is trying to post bond and get him out of lockup.

Lackey is scheduled for a probable cause conference Jan. 18.

Authorities allege Lackey was involved in an incident at 10:25 p.m. Dec. 22 at a house in the 17400 block of Lumpkin.

Authorities allege Lackey physically assaulted his 46-year-old live-in-girlfriend while armed with a handgun.

 Lackey is charged with felonious assault, felon in possession of a firearm, two counts of felony firearm and domestic violence.

Perkins praised the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office's handling of the case. However, he said the filing of new charges against Lackey a day after he was cleared in the rape case "was like rain on a sunny day."

Lackey, said Perkins, "is proclaiming his innocence" in the domestic violence case and there will be a "vigorous" defense in the matter.

Lackey, who now works rehabbing homes for a local property management company, was released from prison in November 2014.

A Wayne County judge dismissed the rape charges against Lackey after it was determined that the canine evidence used to convict him in the 1992 case was faulty.

In the incident for which Lackey was convicted, an 11-year-old girl was carried her from her bed and sexually assaulted on the back porch of her home on July 5, 1992. Following the assault, the attacker left the house and the girl awakened her mother, who called police.

A police dog tracked alleged evidence at the scene to Lackey's home across the alley from the girl's home. The child was not able to identify her attacker. Lackey was a family friend of the girl's family and had been at their home many times, but the child did not identify him in a lineup.

Lackey's attorney said the dog "went right past" Lackey during an investigation and did not pick up anything from him.