'"It's rare for the attorney general to argue against a case he's supposed to be defending. But Haynesworth's innocence is supported by DNA, based on thorough investigation and backed by commonwealth's attorneys whose offices previously prosecuted him.
Haynesworth had no criminal record when he was arrested at age 18. Now that he's out of prison, he's working in the state attorney general's office. But he has to register his whereabouts every month with the state, provide all email addresses he uses and abide by restrictions on where he can go."
It's freedom, his lawyer said, but he's not free.
EDITORIAL: THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT;
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BACKGROUND: "The court of appeals has granted only one writ of actual innocence, in 2008, though it has yet to free anyone from prison.
Among other things, Haynesworth must show, “no rational trier of fact could have found proof beyond a reasonable doubt based upon the newly discovered evidence.”
His lawyers say that if the DNA evidence was available in 1984, no reasonable juror would have found him guilty.
Haynesworth’s petition argues, “If, as the Virginia legislature plainly contemplated, there is ever to be a case for which a writ of actual innocence is granted based on non-biological evidence, this is it.”"
THE INNOCENCE PROJECT;
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"Thomas Haynesworth, wrongly convicted of a series of sexual assaults in Richmond in the 1980s, is out of prison after serving 27 years, but he's still saddled with the label of sex offender. On Tuesday, he asked a Virginia Court of Appeals to clear his name," the Virginian-Pilot editorial published earlier today under the heading, "Righting old wrongs for a miss-labeled 'sex-offender'" begins.
"He has an unlikely ally in his quest: his boss, the state's chief prosecutor, Ken Cuccinelli," the story continues.
"No one would accuse the attorney general of being soft on criminals. He is, after all, the one who pushed to increase the penalty for convicted sex offenders who fail to register with the state.
But in this case, Cuccinelli noted that having Haynesworth's name on that list was a miscarriage of justice, and "it is our job to try to fix it."
Haynesworth, 46, was paroled by Gov. Bob McDonnell in March after DNA proved he wasn't the rapist in two 1984 cases. The DNA instead implicated a convicted serial rapist who resembles Haynesworth and is serving a 100-year prison sentence. But two other convictions against Haynesworth - for which no DNA evidence exists - were left standing.
To grant writs of actual innocence, the Court of Appeals, which heard arguments Tuesday for a half-hour, must conclude that the new evidence means no reasonable juror would find Haynesworth guilty of those other charges.
The judges questioned how much weight they should give the eyewitness testimony that prosecutors used to convict Haynesworth in 1984, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. Prosecutors in Richmond and Henrico County joined Cuccinelli in pressing for the court to overturn the remaining convictions.
The judges also wondered what weight should be attached to the state's chief prosecutor arguing to nullify convictions.
Attorneys answered appropriately: a lot. It's rare for the attorney general to argue against a case he's supposed to be defending. But Haynesworth's innocence is supported by DNA, based on thorough investigation and backed by commonwealth's attorneys whose offices previously prosecuted him.
Haynesworth had no criminal record when he was arrested at age 18. Now that he's out of prison, he's working in the state attorney general's office. But he has to register his whereabouts every month with the state, provide all email addresses he uses and abide by restrictions on where he can go.
It's freedom, his lawyer said, but he's not free.
The judges can rectify that. And they should. Immediately."
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The editorial can be found at:
http://hamptonroads.com/2011/09/righting-old-wrongs-mislabeled-sex-offender
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=120008354894645705&postID=8950904177091523155
For a breakdown of some of the cases, issues and controversies this Blog is currently following, please turn to:
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=120008354894645705&postID=8369513443994476774
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com
