Larry Johnson was convicted of charges stemming from the rape
that occurred in Missouri in January 1984. He was sentenced to
life in prison plus fifteen consecutive years for sodomy. The
victim was attacked in her car in the early morning. The
attacker, whose face was masked by a sweatshirt and scarf,
forced his way into her car and threatened her with a knife. She
was then driven to an alley where she was raped and sodomized
for two hours. After the attack, the victim drove home and
contacted the police and was taken to a hospital for the
purposes of collecting a rape kit. The victim described the
assailant as a clean shaven black man. She helped the police
produce a composite sketch and later identified Larry Johnson’s
picture from a photo array, despite the fact that he had a
mustache. After his arrest, the victim picked Johnson from a
lineup. At trial, the defense was barred from asking about
identification of the spermatozoa that had been recovered from
the vaginal slide, the victim’s panties, and a swat