DNA results do not prove innocence, judge rules in gruesome St. Louis murder case

ST. LOUIS A single hair on a blanket helped convict Rodney Lincoln of a 1983 slaying that left two young girls motherless and with lifelong wounds.

While DNA testing now shows the hair was not his, it is not enough to exonerate him, a St. Louis judge has ruled.

Prosecutors have pointed out the hair could have been left by anyone, not necessarily the perpetrator, and Circuit Judge Robin Vannoy agreed.

With no knowledge of where the blanket came from, how long it had been in the residence, who had contact with the blanket outside of the date of the offense, there is no way to argue that the lack of a DNA match exonerates (Lincoln), Vannoy noted in her ruling, which was issued Tuesday and became available in full Thursday.

The judge also disputed that the hair described at trial as a match to Lincoln was the linchpin to his conviction, as attorneys fighting for his freedom argued.

Vannoy said she believed it was the testimony of one of the daughters, who had first identified Lincoln as the perpetrator from a photo array that compared his mugshot to a picture of a cousin.

While the photo spread may have been improper and suggestive, (the victim) had other occasions in which she identified (Lincoln) as the attacker, Vannoy wrote, mentioning a police lineup and courtroom identification.

The childs testimony never wavered and determining what was or was not the linchpin would require the court to read the minds of the jurors, and it cannot be decided after a review of the transcript 30 years later.

Lincoln has spent 30 years in prison for the gruesome slaying on April 27, 1982, of JoAnn Tate, 35, and the sexual assaults of her daughters, Melissa, 7, and Renee, 4. After one jury hung in 1983, another deliberated 11 hours before finding Lincoln guilty of manslaughter and assault the following year. The hair testimony was part of the second trial but not the first.

The Midwest Innocence Project took up Lincolns case in 2005, arguing for his release under a state law that allows for post-conviction DNA testing in certain instances. Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyces office opposed it.

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DNA results do not prove innocence, judge rules in gruesome St. Louis murder case