Countywide : Woman, 88, Names Suspect as Rapist

An 88-year-old woman on the witness stand in Orange County Superior Court on Thursday identified Danny Harris as the man who raped her on April 6, 1986.

Harris, 39, of Buena Park, is charged with 61 counts of rape, sexual molestation and burglary. The trial will be the first in Orange County in which a suspect’s genetic makeup will be introduced as evidence in court.

The ex-convict is accused of terrorizing women in several Orange County cities from 1985 to 1988 by breaking into their homes and sexually assaulting them. The 20 victims range in age from 25 to the late 80s.

Prosecutors plan to introduce results of “genetic fingerprinting” in the case. The tests use samples of blood, semen, body tissue or hair found found at a crime scene to determine if they match a suspect’s. Each sample carries an individual’s DNA pattern, a unique genetic code. Apart from identical twins, as few as one in several billion people share the same combinations.

Prosecutor Dennis D. Bauer said prosecutors planned to introduce the fingerprinting because they did not know if witnesses would positively identify Harris. When the first witness identified Harris at his preliminary hearing Thursday, Bauer said, “it was a surprise.”

The elderly woman said in a soft voice that the assailant pressed a 12-inch dagger against her neck. She could identify him, she said, because, “it was something that just shocked me. I had a feeling that he’s the one. Something was telling me that I was facing the one who had raped me.”

A second witness on Thursday said she she awoke the night of April 12 to find a stranger standing over her and touching her. When she screamed, he fled. The woman, 28, said she could not positively identify Harris but that he resembled the attacker.

Testimony will continue on Jan. 22.