A judge has announced that an artillery officer in the Army linked through DNA to a series of sexual assaults on girls can blame his twin brother during trial for the attacks in two different states.
Late last week, the judge ruled it would not be correct to bar the attorneys for Aaron Lucas a 1st Lieutenant from presenting his own identical twin as a possible alternate suspect, due to the shared DNA the siblings have.
The judge said it was not his role to judge if it is persuasive or not, that is the jury’s role.
In prosecutions, DNA is considered to be a smoking gun, but only if there is an absence of an identical twin.
However, this type of argument is very rare, said a criminal defense attorney not involved in the case. The attorney said she had never seen the argument, except on an episode of Law and Order on the television.
In their filing on October 22, the attorneys for Lucas said investigators had chosen the wrong sibling after finding the DNA link to an attack that remained unsolved on a young female in 2007 and another in 2009 in Texarkana.
The officer from Fort Carson denied he tried to lure or lured 11 girls from 2009 to 2012, into a vehicle.
His lawyers said that the cases in Texas and Alabama involved Brian Lucas his twin brother, who said defense lawyers, lived in both places.
Brain Lucas had not been charged by authorities in any case and not could be been reached to give a comment. However, investigators said he denied any involvement in the alleged sexual assaults.
The attorneys for Aaron Lucas said a third man, who has not been identified, committed the assaults in Colorado.
Authorities said that a test for DNA linked Aaron Lucas in the abduction of a Colorado Springs girl who was 8 years of age. Law enforcement also said Aaron Lucas matched biological material that was recovered in cases in Texas and Alabama. The judge in Colorado ruled that the evidence from out of state would be allowed to be present at the trial.
Aaron Lucas is expected to appear on November 26 in court.
