The Lawrence police detective leading the investigation into a serial rapist who’s struck in Lawrence and Manhattan will be required to give a judge a complete description of the suspect.

Douglas County District Judge Peggy Kittel made that ruling Thursday afternoon during a hearing in a 1997 rape case.

Attorney Jessica Travis was hoping to obtain police sketches of the serial rapist to defend her client who’s charged with raping a KU student in May 1997. Travis argues the alleged victim’s description of the suspect in her case is similar to the description of a man police are looking for in connection with the rapes of about a dozen women in Lawrence and Manhattan between 2000 and 2008.

But the judge denied that request, saying that unless the suspect had a distinguishing feature — such as a scar — a person’s appearance can change drastically over a decade.

Kittel did order Lawrence police Sgt. Troy Squire to appear in her chambers today to provide a detailed description. No attorneys will be present during that time.

A jury trial in the 1997 case is scheduled to begin Monday.