At about 9:30 a.m. on April 27, 1987, a 32-year-old woman was sexually assaulted in her home in El Paso, Texas. She told police that a man wearing a stocking mask and holding a handgun forced her into a bedroom. After threatening to kill her and saying he only wanted to rob her, he then raped her.
The victim, identified as D.M., put on her son’s robe and drove to a local store, where she asked the staff to contact the police. She was taken to a hospital, where a rape kit was collected. The examining physician observed sperm on slides prepared from the vaginal washings.
On the day after the attack, D.M. went to the police station and helped police create a composite sketch. The next day, she viewed a photographic array that included a photograph of 25-year-old Brandon Moon. She said that Moon looked like her attacker, but she couldn't be sure. Police obtained a warrant and arrested Moon on May 1, 1987.
On May 2, 1987, D.M. viewed a live lineup and identified Moon as the assailant after all the subjects put on a hat similar to the one worn by the perpetrator. Moon was the only person in both the photographic and live lineup procedures.
Two other women who had been raped in recent days also were contacted by the police to view a lineup. They both identified Moon.
Moon was charged with three counts of aggravated sexual assault for the rape of D.M.
In December 1987, Moon went to trial in El Paso County District Court.
The victim testified that she was able to remember the structure of her assailant’s face, his physique, body size, nose, complexion, and hands. She said she could not, however, tell police if he had a mustache or the color of his eyes due to the darkness of the interior of her home and the short amount of time she had to view her assailant.
The prosecution also relied on the testimony of a serologist at the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) who had tested the rape kit and bedding taken from the scene of the crime. The serologist testified that he tested the items and compared the results to samples taken from Moon, D.M., D.M.’s husband, and D.M.’s son. He testified that Moon was a possible contributor of the semen recovered from the evidence but that the victim’s husband and son were excluded. He testified that the semen was deposited by a non-secretor—one whose blood type antigens are not found in other body fluids—and that the husband and son were both secretors. Moon was a non-secretor.
The prosecution was allowed to introduce the testimony of one of the other victims who had identified Moon. Both crimes, according to the prosecution, were similar enough and distinctive enough to point to the same perpetrator.
The defense claimed that Moon was misidentified and presented evidence that Moon was excluded as a source of all of the hairs recovered from the bedding and the rape kit.
Moon, a student at the University of Texas El Paso, testified that he was on campus at the time of the crime. Moon’s girlfriend testified that she had phoned him less than an hour before the crime occurred and had met him shortly after 9:15 a.m.
The defense presented evidence that Moon had no car and could not have had the time to get from the campus to the scene of the rape.
On January 14, 1988, Moon was convicted of three charges of aggravated sexual assault. He was sentenced to 75 years in prison.
After his conviction, Moon began filing motions to have the evidence sent for DNA testing. In 1989, DNA testing was performed. The testing excluded him as the source of the semen on the bedspread. Although he was excluded, the profile obtained was never compared against those of the victim or her husband and son. Moon petitioned for more testing, using more advanced technology, and asked for the profile to be compared to the victim. This motion was denied.
However, in 1996, further testing was conducted by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).
The results were similarly limited because reference samples were never submitted, although the laboratory requested the samples.
In 2001, after Texas passed a law allowing for post-conviction DNA testing, Moon filed a motion seeking further testing. The El Paso public defender’s office was appointed to represent him and the motion was granted. The evidence was sent to a DPS lab in El Paso in October 2002.
The testing excluded Moon as the contributor of the semen on all samples. The laboratory found that two male profiles were obtained. One was on the comforter on which the rape took place and one was on the bathrobe the victim put on after the attack.
Further review of the results in 2004 confirmed that the victim’s son was excluded as a source of the samples. In November 2004, the victim’s ex-husband was located and consented to having his profile compared to the profiles found by DPS. Testing confirmed that he was the source of the semen on the comforter. The male DNA profile on the robe remained unidentified.
The testing showed that the serologist made several mistakes in his analysis. On December 21, 2004, an El Paso County District Judge recommended that Moon’s writ of habeas corpus be granted and his convictions be vacated. Moon was released from prison that day.
On April 6, 2005, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted the writ and vacated Moon’s convictions. The case was remanded to the El Paso County District Court, where the prosecution dismissed the charges.
In 2006, Moon filed a federal civil rights lawsuit seeking compensation. After a lengthy legal battle, the case was dismissed in February 2021.
– Maurice Possley
Posting Date: 08-29-2011
Last Update Date: 03-01-2026
