Judge Grants 1st Wyoming Retrial Based on DNA test

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A judge in Cheyenne has granted Wyoming's first retrial based on DNA evidence.

Andrew J. Johnson has served more than 23 years of a life-in-prison sentence after being convicted of breaking into a Cheyenne woman's apartment and raping her in 1989.

On Tuesday, Laramie County District Judge Thomas Campbell granted Johnson a new trial. Recent testing shows Johnson was not the source of male DNA taken from the victim after the attack.

The DNA instead matches the victim's fiance at the time.

Johnson remains in jail but could be released on $10,000 bond. Johnson's family expressed mixed emotions about the judge's ruling — happiness about a new trial but disappointment the judge didn't dismiss the case.

District Attorney Scott Homar says he still has considerable other evidence against Johnson.