Rape suspect found not guilty after showing penis in court

The suspect surprised everyone by dropping his pants in the middle of the courtroom.

A US man on trial for rape has been found not guilty after he pulled out his penis in court.

Desmond James, from Connecticut, US, showed his penis in court to prove that it did not match the accuser's description.

Upon seeing the penis, jurors cleared the 26-year-old of three counts of sexual assault.

The accuser described the rape suspect's penis skin as being lighter than the rest of the black man's skin.

"If it's not the light one, it's not the right one," his lawyer, Todd Bussert, later told the New York Post.

The rape victim initially picked James out of a photo lineup and said she was raped in 2012 by a "dark-skinned black male with big lips and black-people hair".

"There were a number of troubling aspects in terms of the allegation. It evoked negative racial stereotypes," his lawyer told the Post. "We felt in general that it didn't describe our client."

No one in the courtroom had been warned that James' lawyer was planning this move so there were some averted eyes and stunned looks when the suspect dropped his pants in the middle of the court room.

The lawyer said it was "embarrassing" for the suspect, especially since the room quickly filled with court workers wanting to see the show, but all worth it in the end, as his freedom was at stake.

This doesn't mean the suspect can walk out free: James is already serving 65 years in prison for breaking into a house and raping a 10-year-old girl.