Judge rules for bouncer to appear in lineup for a separate sexual assault case

(Kew Gardens -WABC, March 9, 2006) (WABC) -- Just before noon, Darryl Littlejohn appeared before a Queens County criminal court judge that declared he would appear in a police lineup in connection with a second sexual assault case.

Eyewitness News reporter Ken Rosato explains why. He's live outside the courthouse in Kew Gardens.

The court hearing before Judge Dorothy Chin-Brandt was to get a court order to put the suspect in a lineup regarding another sexual assault case in Queens, according to the Queens District Attorney's Office, which requested the hearing.

Darryl Littlejohn, the "person of interest" in the Imette Saint Guillen murder case has now peaked the interest of a Queens district attorney.

Police Commissioner Kelly: "We're not in a position to rule anything out."

The alleged sexual assault victim from Queens was not able to pick Littlejohn out of a lineup last year but recognized his face when she saw him on TV in connection with the Imette Saint Guillen murder case.

The victim contacted authorities who then asked to have Littlejohn appear in the lineup for that woman. That brought him to court this morning.

Meanwhile, Littlejohn is described by Police Commissioner Ray Kelly as a "person of interest" in the killing of 24-year-old Imette St. Guillen, whose naked and bound body was discovered on Feb. 25.

Investigators increasingly focused on him in recent days, checking for evidence at the Manhattan bar where he worked, along with his Queens home and his van.

Littlejohn was a bouncer at "The Falls" bar, where St. Guillen was last seen alive. A manager at the bar ordered him to escort her out of the bar when she stayed sipping a drink past the 4 a.m. closing time. A witness heard the pair arguing before they disappeared through a side door of the bar.

The student at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan was raped, strangled and suffocated. A white sock was stuffed in her mouth, and her head was wrapped with packaging tape.

Regarding the murder police sources tell Eyewitness News that the initial DNA results are inconclusive but forensics testing on fibers did produce a match.

Commissioner Kelly says he is not ready yet to declare Littlejohn a suspect in the Saint Guillen murder...However...

Commissioner Kelly: "He's clearly a person of interest in this case."

Investigators are waiting for the forensic and DNA test results they need to pin down the killer of Imette Saint Guillen.

During the brief hearing, Littlejohn's attorney told Justice Latella, Jr. that his client wants to appear in the lineups to clear his name. "My client is eager to place himself into the lineup," said defense attorney Kevin O'Donnell, who was assigned to the case. "He maintains his innocence."

Following the hearing, Littlejohn was placed into the custody of NYPD detectives and driven to a nearby precinct.

He's also being looked at by authorities in Nassau County for the rape of a 15-year-old girl back in November and also a federal probe with possible mob ties.

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