James Edward Moore v. State Missouri

Defendant appeals from the denial of his 27.26 motion seeking relief from his convictions of rape, sodomy and first degree burglary. We reverse and remand. The charges arose at the instance of M.T., defendant's neighbor in an adjoining duplex unit, who reported that as she lay in bed on the night of September 27-28, 1985, a man wearing gloves and a ski mask raped and sodomized her. The victim testified the assailant identified himself as Darryl, the father of her children, but she knew the voice was not his. While the victim first stated she did not recognize her assailant's voice, she later identified the voice as that of appellant. M.T. namedappellant as the attacker, though during the assault she was able to momentarily raise the mask no further than his eyebrows and then blacked out. Samples were taken of a semen stain on the victim's bed sheet, as well as vaginal and rectal swabs from the victim, which tested positive for the presence of semen. Defendant's conviction on these charges was affirmed on direct appeal. State v. Moore, 731 S.W.2d 351 (Mo. App. 1987).