Former Death Row Inmate Officially Declared Innocent

[MountainLaurel]

Earl Washington Jr., a mildly mentally retarded man who was nearly executed in Virginia for a rape and murder he did not commit, walked out of prison six years ago after he was exonerated by DNA evidence. This week, Virginia officially declared him innocent.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) issued an absolute pardon, which acknowledges that Washington was wrongly convicted of capital murder and rape. In the three-page pardon, Kaine said DNA evidence and the recent conviction of another man in the 1982 slaying provide conclusive proof that Washington had no connection to the crime.

"It is now evident that Mr. Washington was and is innocent," Kaine wrote.

For several years after the DNA cleared him and pointed to the other man, the special prosecutor in the case still insisted that Washington was a suspect.

Washington's story, which helped spark changes in Virginia's criminal justice system, has long been considered one of the nation's most troubling instances of a wrongful conviction. He came within days of execution.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/06/AR2007070602051.html

Frankly, I'd like to see that prosecutor put in prison in Washington's place.

[lazer47]

1. Why did it take 6 yrs to find him totally innocent

If his name had been Scooter he would have been found innocent a long time ago,,,, 6yrs is outrageous

[MountainLaurel]

2. Political posturing, I suppose

I'd bet that the law enforcement and judicial agencies involved in the original case fought this tooth and nail, as did all of the pro-death-penalty sorts concerned that such a pronouncement would shake the public's trust in the justice system (isn't that the reasoning they give about why DNA tests should not be performed after an execution?). No one was willng to admit the mistake.

And if his name had been Scooter, he never would have been arrested, let alone put on death row.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. I would say DNA testing

in some states, an inmate that wishes DNA testing be done has to pay for the test. There is a group, I've heard, that just recently formed to raise money so that these tests can be made. So that could have been the reason for the delay.

[MountainLaurel]

5. No, the DNA results came six years ago

That is what got him out of prison. It's taken six years for the state of Virginia to officially declare him innocent.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. this is why I'm against the death penalty

Who knows what type of testing they will come up next that will even more positively identify the guilty party? And as long as DNA testing costs the person in prison money to have it done--how is that justice for them? It basically condemns a poor man.