STORY: "New testing further supports innocence in 1982 Va. rape-murder case," by reporter Frank Green, published by the Richmond Times-Dispatch on April 2, 2016;
GIST: "DNA implicates a career criminal in the rape of a Newport News woman and the murder of her husband more than three decades ago and conclusively proves the innocence of his former Navy shipmate wrongly convicted of the crimes, according to the imprisoned man’s lawyers. Keith Allen Harward, 59, has served more than 33 years of a life sentence for the murder of Jesse Perron, who was beaten to death early on the morning of Sept. 14, 1982, with a crowbar by a killer who repeatedly sexually assaulted the dying man’s wife as their children slept in a nearby bedroom. Key evidence against Harward was testimony from expert witnesses who said bite marks on the rape victim matched his teeth. The Innocence Project filed an actual innocence petition last month after initial DNA testing failed to identify Harward’s genetic profile in sperm left by the assailant. Since then, the Virginia Department of Forensic Science reported that the profile found in the sperm and run through the national DNA database produced a “cold hit” on Jerry L. Crotty. Crotty, who died in an Ohio prison 10 years ago, also was a sailor stationed on the USS Carl Vinson at the time of the rape and murder, Harward’s lawyers said. The aircraft carrier was undergoing work at Newport News Shipyard located near the victims’ home, according to trial testimony. “Mr. Harward has spent over 33 years in prison for a crime that he did not commit, and indeed came perilously close to receiving the death penalty,” his lawyers wrote to the Virginia Supreme Court in a supplemental brief filed last week. “The stark evidence of his innocence not only meets the rigorous standard of proof for a writ of actual innocence, but indeed far surpasses it,” they added.........A spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said Crotty died in prison on June 6, 2006, but no cause or manner of death was available Friday. He was serving seven to 25 years for crimes that included abduction, burglary, theft and firearms violations. It was his third time in the Ohio prison system. His first was in 1988, or 5½ years after the rape and murder in Newport News. Olga Akselrod, one of Harward’s lawyers with the Innocence Project, said Harward has been informed that testing implicates Crotty. She said that although the two were stationed on the same ship, Harward did not know Crotty. “He is certainly confident that at this point, given how powerful the DNA results are ... that he will be released as soon as possible,” Akselrod said.........Akselrod said Harward first contacted the Innocence Project seeking DNA testing in 2007, but there was a long line ahead of him. He was moved up, however, because he was convicted largely on bite mark evidence, a now controversial forensic technique. The rape victim, who was attacked while no lights were on in the house, was unable to identify Harward. In what became known in the Tidewater area as “the bite-mark case,” Harward was convicted largely on the testimony of experts who said bite marks the rapist left on the woman’s leg were made by Harward’s teeth to within “reasonable medical certainty” and “reasonable scientific certainty.” A security guard at the shipyard also identified Harward as the clean-shaven sailor he saw enter the shipyard with blood spatter on his uniform that morning. Harward’s lawyers said studies since have discredited the scientific basis for bite mark comparison and that the security guard identified Harward from a spread of mug shots long after that night and after he had been hypnotized by investigators. Also, while the victim and the guard said the assailant was clean-shaven, trial testimony and old photographs strongly suggested Harward had a mustache at the time. One of the bite-mark experts who testified against Harward told the Richmond Times-Dispatch last month that he was confident in his conclusion but that he respects DNA and said it was possible the wrong man had been convicted. Trial testimony and Harward’s innocence petition show that swabs were used to collect biological evidence from the victim’s body and crime scene items soon after the attack. Initial DNA testing was completed earlier this year and failed to find Harward’s profile. The Innocence Project filed an initial innocence petition on March 4 but told the court the state forensics lab was continuing testing and that further results would be forthcoming. Papers filed at the Virginia Supreme Court last week by Harward’s lawyers say the same DNA profile — not Harward’s or her husband’s — was identified in sperm that was recovered and could have been left only by the assailant. The Virginia Department of Forensic Science matched that male genetic profile to Crotty. Harward’s DNA profile was not found in anything that was tested.........“Crotty precisely matches the victim’s description of the perpetrator,” Harward’s lawyers contend. Harward was 26 and had a mustache at the time, they said. Harward’s innocence petition says more than 1,000 sailors on the aircraft carrier underwent dental screenings to see if their tooth alignment matched the bite marks on the rape victim’s legs. A mold of Harward’s teeth was made, and he was excluded as a suspect......... Harward’s lawyers wrote last week, “DNA has left no doubt that Mr. Harward was not the man who raped (the victim) and murdered (her husband), just as it has left no doubt about the identity of the actual rapist and murderer.” They added, “Given the irrefutable proof of Mr. Harward’s innocence, Mr. Harward respectfully requests that the court expedite its review of the case so that he can be exonerated as quickly as is feasible and finally be released from his three-decades-long nightmare.”
The entire story can be found at:
http://m.richmond.com/news/article_7560e62d-581d-5013-a47a-177fe08f179a.html?mode=jqm
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
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.thestar.com/topic/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.
Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
