Former U.S. sailor cleared of murder, rape after 33 years in prison

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

World | Thu Apr 7, 2016 4:48pm EDT

Former U.S. sailor cleared of murder, rape after 33 years in prison

RICHMOND, VA. | BY GARY ROBERTSEON

Virginia's top court on Thursday ordered the release of a former U.S. sailor who has spent 33 years in prison, because new DNA evidence showed he did not murder a Newport News man and rape the man's wife in 1982.

Keith Allen Harward, 60, was convicted on the basis of testimony by two experts who said they matched his teeth to bite marks found on the rape victim's legs. The reliability of bite marks as evidence in a criminal trial has increasingly come under challenge in recent years.

The decision, by the Virginia State Court, came a day after the state's attorney general, Mark Herring, said he believed Harward was innocent.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-virginia-sailor-idUSKCN0X42P6

[pintobean]

1. That poor guy.

Jeez.