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Virginia governor proclaims exoneree's innocence

Posted: July 20, 2007 12:46 pm

It was more than two decades ago that Virginia came within nine days of executing an innocent man. Earl Washington, Jr., was convicted at age 22 of a 1982 rape he didn’t commit after he gave police a false confession riddled with facts that didn’t correspond to the crime. He served 17 years in prison – including 10 on death row – before he was released after DNA testing proved his innocence. Upon his release, he took the state to court – and was opposed – as he sought compensation for the injustice he suffered. Last year, the lawsuit was finally settled, and this month, the state of Virginia finally admitted that he is innocent.

In a new pardon issued July 6, which revised one issued in 2000 by a former governor, Gov. Timothy Kaine wrote: "I have decided it is just and appropriate to grant this revised absolute pardon that reflects Mr. Washington's innocence." The previous pardon only admitted that a rational jury would not convict Washington.

An editorial this week in the Virginia Daily Press calls for the state to treat exonerees with dignity and to enact reforms based on the lessons of Washington’s case.

The case has also taught us some lessons — that police and prosecutors can be pursuing something other than the truth, that confessions can be false, that just because someone is on death row doesn't mean he's guilty. We should remember them every time a defendant comes to trial, and every time a life hangs in the death penalty's balance.

Read the full editorial here. (Daily Press, 07/16/07)

Tags: Virginia, Earl Washington, Exoneree Compensation

Critics say Virginia DNA testing project is moving slowly

Posted: August 28, 2007 5:01 pm

Two years ago, Viriginia officials said they would begin to test crime scene evidence in hundreds of cases that may have been wrongful convictions, and now critics say the state’s crime lab is moving too slowly in completing the task.

The process has its roots in the 2002 exoneration of Innocence Project client Marvin Anderson. After officials declared that evidence in Anderson’s case had been destroyed, samples of evidence were found preserved in the notebook of a lab technician, along with samples from hundreds of other cases. After DNA testing on this evidence led to the exonerations of Anderson and two other men (Julius Earl Ruffin in 2003 and Arthur Lee Whitfield in 2004), the Innocence Project urged officials to conduct a broader review of cases. Then-Governor Mark Warner ordered a review of a 10 percent sample of the 300-plus cases in which the technician had saved evidence. Two more men (Phillip Thurman and Willie Davidson) were proven innocent by this review.

Based on these results, Warner ordered a systematic review of all Virginia convictions in which biological evidence led to convictions, and officials said the project would take two years. However, two years into the $1.4-million project, testing has not been completed on even the first 30 remaining cases. Critics have accused lab officials of dragging their feet:

Betty Layne DesPortes, an area defense lawyer and member of the board of directors of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, isn't satisfied. "They didn't complete four cases, so we really don't know the magnitude of the problem. . . . They left over 10 percent of these cases incomplete."

"Why haven't they done it already? They have no sense of urgency or commitment to this project," she said.

But crime lab director Peter Marone said the undertaking has grown since inception. His department has searched over 500,000 files for potential evidence so far, he claimed.

"I do not see how this is foot-dragging," Marone wrote in an e-mail. "This is not an easy process on 20-to-30-year-old cases."

Read the full story here. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 08/28/2007)

Read more about the cases of Anderson, Ruffin, Whitfield, Thurman and Davidson.

Watch a video interview with Marvin Anderson.

Tags: Virginia, Marvin Anderson, Willie Davidson, Julius Ruffin, Phillip Leon Thurman, Arthur Lee Whitfield

New book examines Innocence Commissions

Posted: March 7, 2008 4:41 pm

A new book by George Mason University law professor Jon Gould examines the Innocence Commission for Virginia and the model of creating panels of experts to review the injustice of wrongful convictions and make recommendations for states to reform their criminal justice systems. The book, titled “The Innocence Commission: Preventing Wrongful Convictions and Restoring the Criminal Justice System,” received a strong review from the Library Journal.

“Written for the general public, Gould's book has important lessons for attorneys and policymakers as well,” the journal wrote.

Criminal justice reform commissions – also called innocence commissions – are a centerpiece of the Innocence Project’s reform proposals nationwide, and have been extremely effective in several states in bringing about reforms to protect the innocent and assist law enforcement agencies and prosecutors.

Buy the book here via Amazon.com – a portion of your purchase will support the Innocence Project.

Learn more about Innocence Commissions here.

Tags: Virginia, Innocence Commissions

Virginia lawmakers approve measure to tell prisoners about old evidence

Posted: March 26, 2008 3:40 pm

A budget amendment awaiting the signature of Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine would require the Virginia Forensic Science Board to alert prisoners when biological evidence is found in their old lab files. The measure, already approved by lawmakers, was introduced by Virginia State Crime Commission Chairman David Albo.

In January, (Virginia Forensic Science Board) members expressed concern about the burden on state agencies searching for the felons, many presumably released from prison.

As a result, it is largely up to authorities to determine whether DNA testing is warranted and to interpret whether the results have any bearing on innocence -- even though qualified felons have a right to petition the court for testing.

Some advocates and experts are concerned that for the most part, only authorities are being told the evidence exists and not those who potentially have the most at stake.

Read the full story here. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 03/25/08)

In January, two newspaper editorial boards joined the call to support notification of prisoners when evidence was found. Read those editorials here.

Tags: Virginia

Virginia pauses massive DNA review to wait for federal funds

Posted: May 13, 2008 5:00 pm

The state of Virginia is seeking a $4.5 million federal grant to continue an unprecedented systematic review of DNA evidence in hundreds of convictions. The project, ordered over two years ago by then-Governor Mark Warner, has halted temporarily after spending $1.4 million in state funds.

The process has its roots in the 2002 exoneration of Innocence Project client Marvin Anderson. After officials declared that evidence in Anderson’s case had been destroyed, samples of evidence were found preserved in the notebook of a lab technician, along with samples from hundreds of other cases. After DNA testing on this evidence led to the exonerations of Anderson and two other men (Julius Earl Ruffin in 2003 and Arthur Lee Whitfield in 2004), the Innocence Project urged officials to conduct a broader review of cases. Gov. Warner ordered a review of a 10 percent sample of the 300-plus cases in which the technician had saved evidence. Two more men (Phillip Thurman and Willie Davidson) were proven innocent by this review and Gov. Warner ordered a systematic review of all convictions with biological evidence.

The review came under fire last year for not moving quickly enough because testing had not been completed on even 30 cases. The Washington Post now reports that lab workers have gone through 534,000 case files and sent thousands of relevant samples for testing.

The review has identified more than 2,100 files that contain forensic evidence with named suspects. The state has sent hundreds of samples to a private Fairfax County lab, Bode Technology Group, for testing.

Virginia’s lab director Peter. M. Marone said the testing will continue with state funds if the grant doesn’t come through.

"We're just trying to make sure we'll expend federal grant money rather than state money," he said.

Read the full story. (Washington Post, 8/12/08)

The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project is monitoring the case review and has raised questions about why the state is not notifying defendants when testing is being conducted in their cases. Read more on the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project blog (http://www.exonerate.org/category/blog)

Read more about the cases of Anderson, Ruffin, Whitfield, Thurman and Davidson.

Watch a video interview with Marvin Anderson.

Tags: Virginia, Willie Davidson, Julius Ruffin, Phillip Leon Thurman, Arthur Lee Whitfield

Virginia DNA tests point to real perpetrator and could clear a wrongful conviction

Posted: August 13, 2008 1:10 pm

New DNA tests could posthumously exonerate Curtis Jasper Moore, who was convicted in 1978 of killing and raping an 88-year-old Virginia woman three years earlier. Moore, who suffered from schizophrenia, was committed to a state mental hospital for three years, until he was released when his conviction was overturned on appeal due to law enforcement officers’ failure to properly advise Moore of his rights before interrogating him. Prosecutors never retried him. Moore died of natural causes four years ago.

New DNA tests, conducted as part of a thorough review of hundreds of Virginia cases in which DNA testing could overturn wrongful convictions, have pointed to the involvement of another man, Thomas Pope, Jr., who has now been arrested and charged with rape and murder in connection with the case.

Moore was arrested shortly after the crime in 1975 after police received complaints about his “suspicious behavior.” Three police officers questioned Moore for some time, promising that he could go home if he told them what had happened at the murder scene. Police brought Moore to the victim’s home, and he allegedly made statements incriminating himself in the crime. A federal court reviewed the record and determined that Moore’s conviction, based on illegally-obtained admissions of guilt, must be vacated.

A Virginia spokesperson said the state is reinvestigating the crime to determine if Moore may have had a role.

Read more:

Richmond Times-Dispatch: New DNA test leads to arrest in ’75 rape, slaying (8/12/08)

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Man not cleared despite DNA test (8/13/08)

The ongoing review of hundreds of DNA cases in Virginia was ordered over two years ago by then-Gov. Mark Warner. The process has its roots in the 2002 exoneration of Innocence Project client Marvin Anderson. After officials declared that evidence in Anderson’s case had been destroyed, samples of evidence were found preserved in the notebook of a lab technician, along with samples from hundreds of other cases. After DNA testing on this evidence led to the exonerations of Anderson and two other men (Julius Earl Ruffin in 2003 and Arthur Lee Whitfield in 2004), the Innocence Project urged officials to conduct a broader review of cases. Gov. Warner ordered a review of a 10 percent sample of the 300-plus cases in which the technician had saved evidence. Two more men (Phillip Thurman and Willie Davidson) were proven innocent by this review and Gov. Warner ordered a systematic review of all convictions with biological evidence.

The review came under fire last year for not moving quickly enough because testing had not been completed on even 30 cases. The Washington Post now reports that lab workers have gone through 534,000 case files and sent thousands of relevant samples for testing.

Last week, Virginia officials announced that they would notify defendants by certified mail if biological material was found in their file, rather than using pro bono attorneys to track down and contact the defendants.

Tags: Virginia, False Confessions

New innocence clinic launches at University of Virginia Law School

Posted: October 2, 2008 4:45 pm

Law students are receiving hands-on experience this year in a new innocence clinic at the University of Virginia School of Law. The Innocence Project and more than 40 other organizations worldwide form the Innocence Network, an affiliation of organizations dedicated to providing pro bono legal and investigative services to individuals seeking to overturn wrongful convictions. With the addition of the UVA Innocence Project in June, the network became one project stronger.

And the new project at UVA will accept cases in which defendants are seeking to prove their innocence by means other than DNA. Only 5 to 10 percent of criminal convictions do not involve biological evidence, and there are certainly innocent people in Virginia’s prisons whose cases cannot be resolved by DNA testing. Law students at UVA will investigate these cases to determine if there is evidence of innocence that can overturn a conviction on appeal.

Led by Deirdre Enright, a 1992 Law School graduate and experienced capital post-conviction lawyer, the clinic includes 12 students each year and will soon employ a full-time investigator to help collect evidence for appeals.

“This is sort of the dream class if you’re a law student because it involves great issues for research that are topical – DNA, new techniques in DNA, new testing, eyewitness ID, jailhouse informants, poor lawyering, poor prosecuting —it’s all these great cutting-edge issues,” Enright said.

“The Innocence Project at UVA School of Law will bring critical expertise and resources to investigating wrongful conviction cases,” Innocence Project Co-Director Peter Neufeld said. “We know that innocent people are convicted and spend years or decades in prison in Virginia, and this clinic will help exonerate more of them.”

Read more here. (UVA press release, 09/30/08)

Tags: Virginia

Virginia Man Celebrates Almost 20 Years Since Exoneration

Posted: January 9, 2009 4:00 pm

After supposedly confessing to a crime he did not commit and serving four years in prison, David Vasquez was exonerated 19 years ago when DNA testing proved he could not have been responsible for other similar murders.

Officially exonerated in 1989, Vasquez previously pled guilty to the murder of a woman in Arlington County, Virginia, and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Vasquez made “dream statements” about the crime, which officers turned into a confession even though he was considered to be borderline mentally impaired. Prosecutors depended heavily on forensic evidence found on the victim that supposedly matched Vasquez, and told Vasquez they had two eyewitnesses that placed him at the scene of the crime.

It was only after multiple DNA tests that police linked the murder for which Vasquez was convicted to another string of crimes. The tests eventually concluded that there was no match between Vasquez and the evidence found at the scene of the crime, at which time the prosecution secured a pardon for Vasquez and pursued a case against the actual perpetrator.

Other exoneree anniversaries this week:

Sunday: Larry Holdren West Virginia (Served 15 Years, Exonerated, 2000)
Tuesday: Mark Diaz Bravo California (Served 3 Years, Exonerated, 1994)

Tags: California, Virginia, West Virginia, Mark Diaz Bravo, Larry Holdren, David Vasquez

DNA Clears Virginia Man of 1984 Rape

Posted: March 24, 2009 4:46 pm

When Thomas Haynesworth was arrested for rape in 1984, he told police that he was innocent and that he believed an acquaintance, Leon Davis, could be the perpetrator. Now, after Haynesworth has served 25 years in prison, DNA testing has implicated Davis in the crime and cleared Haynesworth, according to media reports.

Haynesworth, represented by the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, will not be released immediately because he is also serving for another rape he says he didn’t commit. Prosecutors involved in the other case are searching for evidence to test.

Testing in the case was conducted as part of a state-run review of possible Virginia wrongful convictions that was sparked after Marvin Anderson’s exoneration in 2002.

Reached last week by telephone at the Greensville Correctional Center, Haynesworth said of Davis, "I knew all along he was the man. I told my lawyer. I told [police]. He lived right down the street from me."

"I told them: 'This man fit the description.' But nobody ever listened to me," he complained. "Everybody said we looked alike. Only difference between me and him, he is taller and weighed more," said Haynesworth.Read the full story here. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 03/24/09)

Tags: Virginia, Marvin Anderson

Friday Roundup: Cases and Reforms Move Forward

Posted: July 31, 2009 5:30 pm

Around the country this week, individual cases moved forward – as did efforts to reform the criminal justice system to prevent wrongful convictions and assist the exonerated.

A judge in Wisconsin this morning dismissed rape and murder charges against Ralph Armstrong, who has been in prison for 28 years. Evidence shows that a prosecutor concealed substantial evidence that Armstrong was innocent. Armstrong will remain in custody while the state decides whether to appeal the ruling. The Innocence Project has worked on Armstrong’s case since 1993, and Co-Director Barry Scheck today called Armstrong’s case a “particularly chilling” example of prosecutorial misconduct.

Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County may be the home of pilot programs for identification reforms, according to District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr., who chairs the county’s investigations section of the state Committee on Wrongful Convictions. The news comes on the heels of the Innocence Project’s new report on eyewitness identification reforms, released earlier this month. Read more in the press release here.

Republican and Democratic leaders are asking Virginia’s General Assembly to provide compensation for exoneree Arthur Whitfield, who spent more than 22 years in prison and was released when DNA tests proved his innocence. Bob McDonnell and Creigh Deeds, the respective Republican and Democratic gubernatorial candidates, are calling for action during the assembly’s special session in August.

DNA may play a key role in the case of a Florida man convicted of murder 25 years ago. David Johnston was scheduled for execution in May, but the Florida Supreme Court delayed his execution when defense attorneys requested DNA testing on blood samples and nail clippings kept as evidence.

Tags: Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin, Arthur Lee Whitfield, Exoneree Compensation, Eyewitness Identification

Potential Wrongful Convictions Revealed in Virginia Study

Posted: January 10, 2012 3:30 pm

Tags: Virginia

Virginia Fails to Notify Individuals Who May Have Been Wrongfully Convicted

Posted: February 6, 2012 1:45 pm

Tags: Virginia

Friday Roundup: Claims of Innocence and Fighting for Justice

Posted: February 17, 2012 4:15 pm

Tags: Connecticut, Texas, Virginia

Federal Judge Tosses Virginia Murder Conviction

Posted: February 29, 2012 4:30 pm

Tags: Virginia

Virginia Exoneree Could Receive $800,000 in Compensation

Posted: March 6, 2012 2:45 pm

Tags: Virginia, Thomas Haynesworth

Science Thursday

Posted: March 15, 2012 5:30 pm

Tags: District of Columbia, Ohio, Texas, Virginia

Wrongfully Convicted Man Seeks Removal from the Sex Offender Registry

Posted: March 19, 2012 12:25 pm

Tags: Virginia

Virginia Exoneree Receives Compensation

Posted: April 10, 2012 4:00 pm

Tags: Virginia, Thomas Haynesworth

Virginia Attorney General Supports Bennett Barbour Exoneration

Posted: May 2, 2012 5:00 pm

Tags: Virginia

Virginia Must Notify Individuals Who May Have Been Wrongfully Convicted

Posted: May 10, 2012 4:45 pm

Tags: Virginia

Virginia Police Departments Fall Short on Identification Procedures

Posted: July 16, 2012 4:45 pm

Eyewitness misidentification is the single greatest cause of wrongful convictions nationwide, and Virginia is no exception. Eyewitness misidentification played a role in 80% of Virginia’s convictions overturned through DNA testing.

Although the state has introduced improved identification procedures, several municipalities have not conformed to the new policies, reported The Virginian-Pilot. Virginia Beach has already made the change and was one of the agencies to assist the state Department of Criminal Justice Services in establishing the reform, the most important being blind administration. Research and experience have shown that the risk of misidentification is sharply reduced if the police officer administering a photo or live lineup is not aware of who the suspect is.

Virginia officials hoping to eliminate eyewitness misidentifications also want to implement sequential photo arrays of suspects to witnesses. This simply means that the photos are shown sequentially rather than all at once. Research has shown that presenting lineup members one-by-one decreases the rate at which innocent people are identified. When viewing several subjects at once, witnesses tend to choose the person who looks the most like – but may not actually be – the perpetrator.

"Suggestion is unconscious and it's incredibly powerful," said Brandon Garrett, a law professor at the University of Virginia who helped Virginia write its new policy. "People are really powerful nonverbal communicators."

In some wrongful convictions, police told witnesses things such as, "Good job, you picked the right guy," he said.

"That kind of reassurance and confirmation and encouragement had such a powerful effect that these eyewitnesses were sure they had picked the right one, even though they had picked innocent people," he said.

Read the full article.

Read the Innocence Project Report: Reevaluating Lineups.

Understand The Causes: Eyewitness Misidentification.

Tags: Virginia

Two Virginia Men Fight Arson Convictions

Posted: August 7, 2012 1:50 pm

Arson experts are questioning the science in two Virginia convictions, reported the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Davey Reedy is on parole after serving 20 years for the 1987 arson deaths of his two children, and Michael Ledford is serving a 50-year sentence for the 1999 arson death of his one-year-old son. Although prosecutors remain firm on Reedy and Ledford’s guilt, critics believe faulty and outdated science is responsible for the convictions.

John Lentini, a fire science expert who reviewed evidence in the high-profile Cameron Todd Willingham case, said that many of the principles used in arson investigations during the 1980s and 1990s were based on inaccurate evidence at best and "witchcraft" at worst.

"When you can prove some other dude done it you're in much better shape. With fires, it's not 'some other dude done it,' it's 'nobody done it,' and that's very difficult to prove once you're convicted," said Lentini.

Ledford claims that he falsely confessed to starting the fire after investigators misled him to believe that he had failed a polygraph test. Authorities originally classified the cause of fire as undetermined but changed the finding to arson. Experts reviewing the case for the defense said the fire was not intentionally started and that photographs taken at the scene show compelling evidence of an electrical fire.

In Reedy’s case, the local fire department concluded the fire was set by pouring and igniting gasoline on the back porch and kitchen areas. A former federal prosecutor who is part of Reedy’s legal team asserts that the only evidence of arson were test results from the state forensics lab stating there was gasoline on Reedy’s shirt and the wood floor, and the fire marshal's assertion of burn patterns. In 2006, Lentini examined the state’s chemical analysis and found the test results were inaccurate.

"Even by the standards used in 1987, this should have made the identification of gasoline in these two samples suspect," Lentini wrote.

Science now shows that burn patterns for arson can be mistaken for patterns found in an accidental fire.

Read the full article.

Read about the Cameron Todd Willingham case.

Tags: Virginia, Cameron Todd Willingham

Volunteer Attorney Aids Virginia's Post-Conviction Testing Project

Posted: August 20, 2012 5:40 pm

The Virginia Department of Forensic Science post-conviction DNA testing project has taken the next step in its massive review of state forensic cases from before DNA testing was available—notifying people who have been convicted of crimes for comparison DNA samples. In 63 cases, the DNA evidence from the crime scene exists for testing, but without the comparison sample, there is no way of knowing if the individual was wrongfully convicted.

Assisting with the effort is volunteer attorney Jon Sheldon who has had some success finding people when the state couldn’t. Sheldon previously helped the project by tracking down more than 20 people whose DNA results were excluded in post-conviction testing. Among the people authorities were unable to locate was Bennett Barbour, convicted of a rape in 1978 and exonerated earlier this year.

Sheldon says it’s a hard decision for people to make without a lawyer and that they need to understand their DNA sample can only help them if they are innocent of the crime for which they are convicted. On the other hand, if they’re not innocent, or if they have committed other unsolved crimes, it could be detrimental.

Sheldon says that under circumstances where the door is potentially open for using the DNA sample in other cases, he would not advise any of the 63 to give a DNA sample unless they clearly understood the implications and risk.

"This was one of my concerns," Sheldon said. "It's going to be a little bit sticky."

To advise someone to give a sample, he said, "I would need a client behaving like Bennett Barbour — jumping up and down saying, 'This is the call I've waited for all my life. I am innocent and … I've never been involved in any other criminal activity, ever.' "

Kristen J. Howard, executive director of the Virginia State Crime Commission, is coordinating the offender notification work in the project and said it has yet to be worked out what Sheldon and any other volunteer lawyers will say to the 63 people.

That will be worked out with the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, Howard said. "We may have to exactly define what legal advice will be provided because this is very different from what we previously did," she said.

Read the full article.

Read more about Barbour’s case.

Tags: Virginia