Inclusion Daily Express -- Virginia Governor Orders Review Of DNA Lab Following Errors In Earl Washington Case

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Virginia Governor Orders Review Of DNA Lab Following Errors In Earl Washington Case
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
May 12, 2005

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA--Efforts by Earl Washington, Jr. and his supporters to get him cleared as a suspect in a 1982 rape and murder case has led to a full-scale investigation of Virginia's DNA testing program.

Washington, who has been described in the media as having "brain damage" and an IQ of 69, was convicted and sentenced to the death penalty for raping and murdering Rebecca Lynn Williams. He came within a week of a scheduled execution in the early 1990s before a DNA analysis cast enough doubt about his guilt to prompt Virginia's governor to commute his sentence to life in prison. In February 2001, Governor Jim Gilmore pardoned him and ordered his release.

Virginia State Police still have Washington listed as a suspect in the case, even though DNA evidence found at the scene has cleared him and pointed to Kenneth W. Tinsley, who is behind bars serving two life terms for an unrelated rape. Tinsley has not been charged in the Williams case.

The American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board recently audited the Virginia Division of Forensic Science lab and found that it incorrectly ruled out the presence of Tinsley's DNA in biological material taken from Williams' body.

Last week, Governor Mark Warner ordered a review of 150 other cases involving DNA analysis at the lab. The reviews could call into question the convictions of dozens of inmates, including several of those now on Virginia's death row.

Washington is now married and lives in Virginia Beach.

In his 1983 trial, police said Washington confessed to the rape and murder of Williams when they questioned him about a separate burglary. Washington later withdrew his confession.

Washington's attorneys have accused police of asking him leading questions and pressuring him to confess. They pointed out that in the confession Washington stated that 19-year-old Williams was black, that he stabbed her twice, and that they were alone when he killed her. The white woman was actually stabbed 38 times in front of two of her children.

Related:
"Audit slams DNA testing Va.'s lab committed errors in examining Earl Washington case" (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/05/red/0512b.htm
"Virginia governor calls for review of 150 cases handled by crime lab" (New York Times via Houston Chronicle)
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/nation/3171688
"Earl Washington Jr." (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/laws/earlwashington.htm

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