DNA test may prove inmate's innocence

CHEYENNE -- Results of a DNA test may exonerate a man who has served more than 20 years in prison for aggravated burglary and sexual assault.

In December, attorney Aaron Lyttle filed a motion on behalf of inmate Andrew J. Johnson to test DNA found in the victims sexual assault kit.

The state didnt object to the motion, and it was approved by Laramie County District Judge Thomas Campbell on Friday.

The DNA was left at the district court after Johnsons trial and never has been tested. If the seminal fluid on the swab doesnt match him, he may be found innocent.

At the end of the day, we expect it to show who the real perpetrator is, Lyttle said.

He is associated with the Rocky Mountain Innocence Center, a non-profit group that works on correcting and preventing convictions of innocent people in Utah, Nevada and Wyoming.

According to the motion, Johnson was convicted in 1989 following a jury trial and sentenced to life in prison. Even after the state Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, Johnson maintained his innocence.

He said that on June 10, 1989, he went to a bar in Cheyenne and met an acquaintance. The two kissed, hugged and danced before deciding to go to other bars.

Before doing so, Johnson said, they went to the womans apartment to look for her ID. While there they smoked marijuana. He used his ID to roll two joints and left the card at the apartment, documents say.

The two left and went to several bars. At an after-hours club, Johnson said the woman vomited in the parking lot because of how much she drank, and he went inside to get towels.

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DNA test may prove inmate's innocence