Attorney general: Man wrongfully convicted of rape, murder

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Attorney general: Man wrongfully convicted of rape, murder

Updated 3:17 pm, Wednesday, April 6, 2016

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — DNA evidence proves that a man who is serving a life sentence was wrongfully convicted of rape and murder more than three decades ago, Virginia's attorney general said Wednesday.

The attorney general's office has filed a brief with the state Supreme Court, arguing that 59-year-old Keith Allen Harward's conviction should be vacated.

Harward was convicted in the 1982 killing of Jesse Perron and the rape of his wife. His conviction was largely based on now-questionable bite mark comparison evidence. Recent DNA tests failed to identify Harward's genetic profile in sperm left at the crime scene.

"If the new scientific testing results had been available at the time of his trial, no rational trier of fact would have found proof of Harward's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt," Attorney General Mark Herring said in a news release.


Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Attorney-general-Man-wrongfully-convicted-of-7232376.php

---

[center]

As a younger man, Keith Allen Harward

[/center]

[mainer]

1. Please everyone: contribute to the Innocence Project

I joined a few years ago. There are too many people in jail who never committed the crimes they've been accused of.

http://innocenceproject.org

[elleng]

2. :-(

[montana_hazeleyes]

3. Three decades of his life.

There's no getting that back.

[Nye Bevan]

4. Good thing he wasn't executed!

I hope he receives several million dollars in compensation.

[Archae]

5. Especially from that "bite-mark expert"

Like this guy:

http://reason.com/archives/2009/05/15/a-forensics-charlatan-gets-cau

[TeamPooka]

6. Also the police let the real rapist and murderer walk the streets the last 3 decades.

Good job

[greymouse]

7. I hope they can now match that DNA

unbelievable that DNA is not processed for years, even with much more current crimes.

[Eugene]

8. Former U.S. sailor cleared of murder, rape after 33 years in prison

Source: Reuters

World | Thu Apr 7, 2016 4:48pm EDT

Former U.S. sailor cleared of murder, rape after 33 years in prison

RICHMOND, VA. | BY GARY ROBERTSEON

Virginia's top court on Thursday ordered the release of a former U.S. sailor who has spent 33 years in prison, because new DNA evidence showed he did not murder a Newport News man and rape the man's wife in 1982.

Keith Allen Harward, 60, was convicted on the basis of testimony by two experts who said they matched his teeth to bite marks found on the rape victim's legs. The reliability of bite marks as evidence in a criminal trial has increasingly come under challenge in recent years.

The decision, by the Virginia State Court, came a day after the state's attorney general, Mark Herring, said he believed Harward was innocent.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-virginia-sailor-idUSKCN0X42P6