US sex assault suspect blames twin

File photo / NZ Herald

A judge says a US Army officer linked by DNA to a string of sexual assaults on young girls will be allowed to blame his twin brother at trial.

The judge ruled Friday it would be "inappropriate" to bar Aaron Lucas' attorneys from presenting his identical twin as an alternate suspect given the siblings' shared DNA, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette.

Karen Steinhauser, a criminal defense attorney and adjunct law professor at the University of Denver, told The Associated Press such an argument is rare.

"I have never seen it, ever," she said. "The only time I have seen it was on Law and Order: SVU", the television show. Steinhauser is not involved in the case.

In an Oct. 22 court filing, Lucas' attorneys said investigators picked the wrong sibling after discovering a DNA link to an unsolved attack on a young girl in Alabama in 2007 and another in Texas in 2009.

Lucas has denied luring or trying to lure 11 girls into his vehicle in Colorado between 2009 and 2012. His attorneys have said the Alabama and Texas cases involve his twin brother, Brian Frederick Lucas, who the defense says has lived in both states.

Brian Lucas, who has not been charged in any of the cases, could not be reached for comment Saturday, but investigators have said he has denied involvement in the alleged crimes.

Investigators say a DNA test linked Aaron Lucas to the abduction of an 8-year-old girl in Colorado and that he matched biological material recovered in the Alabama and Texas cases.

Lucas is scheduled to appear in a Colorado court Nov. 26. His attorneys did not return a message left by The Associated Press on Saturday.

- AP