Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said Thursday it would be too difficult to retry Jerry Frank Townsend because prosecutors have no physical evidence and cannot find witnesses.

"We've looked for the witnesses, we looked for the victim of the rape, we looked for physical evidence. None of it exists," Rundle said.

Townsend agreed to plead guilty in 1979 to a rape and two second degree murder charges after he was convicted of four Broward County murders. But Broward investigators set aside those convictions after DNA evidence cleared Townsend of the crimes in April.

"By law, once the Broward sentences were set aside Mr. Townsend's pleas to concurrent life sentences in the Miami-Dade cases must also be set aside," Rundle said.

Townsend could be released within days. A hearing on the case was scheduled Friday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, during which Rundle's office will ask a judge to set the convictions aside.

"There are a lot of people that are concerned and are hopeful that the 22 years he was put away will deter him from ever committing a crime again," Rundle said.

Five supervisors were assigned to review police reports, depositions and the witness statements in the Miami-Dade cases. Two retired detectives who originally worked the case were interviewed extensively, Rundle said.

"We found that in two of the cases, the investigation points to Mr. Townsend as the perpetrator of a sexual battery (rape) and a murder," Rundle said.

She said the other murder conviction would be even more difficult to prosecute. Evidence in the cases, including a bat with hair and blood and a razor found on Townsend and used in the rape, were destroyed in 1985.

Townsend, 49, was arrested and charged with raping a pregnant woman in daylight on a downtown Miami street. The victim and two witnesses, including a woman who said she hit him on the head with a bottle during the rape, pointed Townsend out to police a few blocks from the scene.

Rundle said she read the victim's statement two days before announcing her decision.

"It's a pretty compelling statement, that's the tough part," she said.

Townsend's IQ is between 50 and 60 and he has the mental capacity of an 8-year-old.

During the investigation, Townsend confessed to several other slayings and was taken to Broward County murder scenes. On tapes of his confessions, police helped Townsend remember details of the crimes and corrected him when his story was inconsistent with facts related to the murders.

His defense attorneys have said that because of his impairment, Townsend admitted to crimes he did not commit to please investigators. His attorneys were not immediately available for comment Thursday.

The rape victim, now 59, has been arrested many times since the assault, mostly on minor charges such as disorderly intoxication, disorderly conduct and possession of a stolen shopping cart. Her last arrest was three years ago on Miami Beach.

Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne apologized to Townsend in person last week and said his department would change the way it handles mentally retarded suspects.

Jenne did not criticize his detectives, nor comment on the Miami-Dade cases.

"I think everybody thought conclusively that he was guilty as charged," Jenne said.

He said his department re-examined the convictions after one of the original detectives came up to him and said "We don't feel good about Townsend."

Advocates for the mentally retarded have also called for changes in the way mentally retarded suspects are treated.

"Ever individual in law enforcement needs to get this kind of training, we need to put some reins on the zealousness in which some members of the law enforcement community push to get a conviction," said Tom Dunn, the Florida coordinator for Voice of the Retarded.

Dunn said it's easy to lead a mentally retarded suspect because he may be eager to please investigators, especially if they feel pressured.

While investigators did coach Townsend on details of the murders, they also seemed to realize Townsend might lie about his involvement in the crimes.

At one point during questioning, a detective said:

"Jerry, I don't want you to tell me anything that you didn't do, but I do want you to tell me about the things that you did do. You're not going to make feel good to tell me things that you think I want to hear ... You understand that?"

AP-ES-06-14-01 1847EDT