CROWN POINT | It wasn't the time; Roosevelt Glenn already served the bulk of his sentence.

The 46-year-old man's family contends the fight for Glenn's post-conviction relief is about his innocence and the years he lost behind bars after his conviction for the 1989 abduction and rape of a Hammond woman.

Glenn lost the first round of that fight Tuesday.

Special Judge T. Edward Page on Tuesday denied Glenn's petition for post-conviction relief. Page agreed with Glenn's contention that a DNA analysis proved bodily fluid and hair samples left at the scene were not Glenn's, but said it wasn't enough to exonerate him or warrant a new trial.

"Don't even try and make sense of it," Glenn's attorney Fran Watson told family members after the ruling.

She hugged Glenn's sister, Renitta Stout.

"It doesn't make sense. We are disappointed, incredibly disappointed."

Glenn was sentenced in 1993 to 36 years in prison for the abduction and rape, Lake County Criminal Court records show.

He never has wavered in his proclamation of innocence, Watson said.

Glenn's first trial on the felony charges ended in 1992 with a hung jury. A jury found him guilty of rape after his second trial in 1993, court records show. Glenn was acquitted of felony robbery during that trial and, later, the sexual deviate conduct charge was dismissed.

Stout said she has been waiting 15 years for her brother's justice. She enlisted the help of the Innocence Project to prove Glenn was wrongfully convicted.

The Innocence Project is a national organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reforming the justice system, according to its Web site, http://www.innocenceproject.org.

Stout said the organization retested the evidence and contends none of it matches Glenn.

But, green coveralls left at the scene belonged to Glenn and he allegedly confessed to two men that he was involved in the Dec. 7, 1989, "bump and rape," court records state.

Deputy Prosecutor Jacqueline Jacobs said evidence points to Glenn, even with the exclusion of the hair sample.

A Hammond woman driving home at night after visiting friends in Griffith reportedly stopped for a red light at the intersection of 165th Street and Parrish Avenue when her car was bumped from behind. When she got out to check the damage, she said she was dragged into the other car by five men who took her to a remote area of Gary and sexually assaulted her. She was released after two hours.

Although five people eventually were charged at some point during the proceedings, only three went to trial and Glenn and one other man were convicted.

Glenn is scheduled to be released in November 2010, Page said.

Watson and Stout said they will head to the Court of Appeals to challenge Page's ruling.