Keith Harward

[catsmate]

Keith Harward was released from prison in the US state of Virginia yesterday after spending 33 years imprisoned for the killing of Jesse Perron and the rape of his wife in Newport News in 1982.
The Virginia Supreme Court accepted DNA evidence that exonerated him.

His conviction relied on the testimony of a security guard security guard who identified Harward as the man he saw entering the Newport News shipyard wearing a bloody uniform (he was a sailor on the USS Carl Vinson) and on discredited bite mark evidence. There was no other evidence linking Harward (then 27) to the case.
Teresa Perron survived and failed to identify Harward.

The Innocence Project became involved in Harward's case two years ago and pushed for DNA tests, which failed to identify Harward's genetic profile in semen left at the crime scene. Said DNA did match that of one of Harward's (former) shipmates who died in an Ohio prison in June 2006 while serving a sentence for abduction.

Luckily for Mr. Harward (who's not 60) a procedural loophole in the law caused his original capital murder conviction to be overturned in 1985, otherwise the State of Virginia would have killed an innocent man.

The officer who led the investigation, C. D. Spinner, was given an "outstanding police officer" award the year after the conviction.

 

[Samson]

Keith Harward was released from prison in the US state of Virginia yesterday after spending 33 years imprisoned for the killing of Jesse Perron and the rape of his wife in Newport News in 1982.
The Virginia Supreme Court accepted DNA evidence that exonerated him.

His conviction relied on the testimony of a security guard security guard who identified Harward as the man he saw entering the Newport News shipyard wearing a bloody uniform (he was a sailor on the USS Carl Vinson) and on discredited bite mark evidence. There was no other evidence linking Harward (then 27) to the case.
Teresa Perron survived and failed to identify Harward.

The Innocence Project became involved in Harward's case two years ago and pushed for DNA tests, which failed to identify Harward's genetic profile in semen left at the crime scene. Said DNA did match that of one of Harward's (former) shipmates who died in an Ohio prison in June 2006 while serving a sentence for abduction.

Luckily for Mr. Harward (who's not 60) a procedural loophole in the law caused his original capital murder conviction to be overturned in 1985, otherwise the State of Virginia would have killed an innocent man.

The officer who led the investigation, C. D. Spinner, was given an "outstanding police officer" award the year after the conviction.

As always, the pattern is common, and you are serving the interests of this man and the community generally by drawing attention.
Why are so few interested in these cases?
I dunno.

 

[DragonLady]

As always, the pattern is common, and you are serving the interests of this man and the community generally by drawing attention.
Why are so few interested in these cases?
I dunno.

Because in most of these cases they were convicted based on the evidence available at the time. I don't believe it's intentional wrongdoing by anyone in more than a tiny percentage of cases.

In this case, a security guard saw him wearing a bloody uniform, and someone bit him.

I can't blame any jury for putting two-and-two together to come up with a solid four.

Of course I'm saddened and sorry when someone is wrongfully convicted, and I hope the technology continues to improve so that only those who are guilty will be convicted, but in the meantime we have the system we have, and I have no brilliant ideas for making it better.

I do, however, believe that any new evidence should immediately be considered, and anyone proven innocent freed within days.

 

[Samson]

Because in most of these cases they were convicted based on the evidence available at the time. I don't believe it's intentional wrongdoing by anyone in more than a tiny percentage of cases.

In this case, a security guard saw him wearing a bloody uniform, and someone bit him.

I can't blame any jury for putting two-and-two together to come up with a solid four.

Of course I'm saddened and sorry when someone is wrongfully convicted, and I hope the technology continues to improve so that only those who are guilty will be convicted, but in the meantime we have the system we have, and I have no brilliant ideas for making it better.

I do, however, believe that any new evidence should immediately be considered, and anyone proven innocent freed within days.

It starts with a prosecution. Then the good intentions are vanquished if indeed they ever existed. You are being hopelessly naive to see otherwise when analysing in concert with the easily established facts.

 

[ZirconBlue]

Good to see justice finally being served, I guess. Cases like this are the reason I no longer support the Death Penalty.

 

[luchog]

Because in most of these cases they were convicted based on the evidence available at the time. I don't believe it's intentional wrongdoing by anyone in more than a tiny percentage of cases.

Well, no, that's a hopelessly naive view.

Most of these cases are based on prosecutors and law enforcement making the evidence fit the case. Coerced confessions are common, evidence is included or withheld depending on how how likely it is to produce a conviction. LE and prosecutors often have suspect in mind early in the investigation, and are unwilling to follow other leads and consider other possibilities. Convictions have been based on flimsy, often ambiguous evidence, and outright pseudo-science.

It's true that personal vendettas are uncommon (however, they do exist); but the office of Prosecutor is typically a political one, and there is a lot of political pressure to "get results", and conviction rate becomes much more important than truth.

Add to that, the fact that most falsely-convicted defendants are poor, mentally ill, and developmentally disabled; and are dependent on the services of badly overworked and under-funded public defenders. Add to that, appeals courts in many jurisdictions are not allowed to consider new evidence, but can only overturn a conviction based on procedural errors. There is also the problem that many jurisdictions will not consider overturning a conviction after the fact unless an alternate suspect can convincingly be produced.

There have also been numerous cases where the judicial system has simply refused to acknowledge error and release falsely convicted individuals whose innocence has been conclusively demonstrated.

 

[fuelair]

It starts with a prosecution. Then the good intentions are vanquished if indeed they ever existed. You are being hopelessly naive to see otherwise when analysing in concert with the easily established facts.

I do support the death penalty for any police/lab people or DAs who do not do their best to verify completely the guilty person and avoid completely charging any person otherwise!!!!!

 

[fuelair]

Also would love prosecutors to specifically be unable to run for any public office following their leaving their prosecutorial job.