John Schwartz in the New York Times writes about the case of Thomas Haynesworth (shown at left), a Virginia man wrongly convicted of multiple rapes in the mid-1980s and recently proven innocent by DNA evidence.
I must share a personal aside here: I lived in Richmond, Virginia, during those years, and experienced a life-changing and traumatic event related to the topic of this story. The climate with regard to both race and a string of rapes in Richmond at the time was such that it does not surprise me that police were eager to put someone, anyone, in prison. It's wonderful that technology has helped to prove Mr. Haynesworth's innocence. And it's terrible that the utterly broken legal system in Virginia still doesn't want to set him free, 27 years later.
DNA has since proved that he did not commit two of the rapes he was tried for. The DNA from those two cases pointed to another man, in prison for having committed multiple rapes in the same neighborhood that occurred after Mr. Haynesworth's arrest. That man, Leon Davis, who identified himself to victims as "the Black Ninja," is serving multiple life terms plus 100 years.
Now Mr. Haynesworth, 46, is asking for full exoneration on all of the rape convictions, although DNA from the other two cases is not available. But the circumstantial evidence supporting Mr. Haynesworth's claims of innocence is so powerful that along with his own lawyers, the prosecutors from both jurisdictions where the rapes occurred support his efforts, as well as the attorney general for the commonwealth, Kenneth T. Cuccinelli.
With no one arguing against exoneration, most judges would be expected to congratulate Mr. Haynesworth on his new life, perhaps with an apology as well, and send him into daylight and freedom. But in July, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals of Virginia said, in essence, "Not so fast." The court called for additional briefs in the case, which will be heard again on Tuesday by all of the judges of the court. It is a move that has left legal experts astonished.
Read the full article: Man Cleared of Rape, but a Court Balks at Full Exoneration (NYT)
In the photo above, the woman behind Haynesworth is his attorney, Shawn Armbrust. If you want to have yourself a good cry, check out these photos of him being released from prison and reuniting with his mom this March. More about his case here in the local paper.
Photo: Richmond Times-Dispatch, via NYT.
