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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder and Rape |
Sentence: |
Life Imprisonment |
Years Imprisoned: |
33 |
Year Crime: |
1982 |
Year Convicted: |
1986 |
Year Cleared: |
2016 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Virginia |
County or Region of Crime: |
Newport News |
City of Crime: |
Newport News |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Keith Allen Harward was wrongly convicted of capital murder of a husband and the rape of his wife in Newport News, Virginia on September 14, 1982. Keith Harward was primarily convicted of the murder of Jesse Perron and rape of Teresa Perron, based on expert bite mark testimony by two experts that bite marks on Teresa's legs matched Harward's teeth. After his conviction by a jury Harward was sentenced to a single term of life imprisonment. Harward appealed, arguing that under the statute he was convicted of violating the person raped must be the person who was murdered. On April 26, 1985 the Virginia Supreme Court agreed, and in reversing his conviction ordered that at most he could be retried for first-degree murder. After his retrial during which the prosecution relied on the same bite mark evidence as during his first trial, Harward was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. On January 19, 1988 the Virginia Court of Appeals affirmed Harward's conviction that it acknowledged was based on the expert bite mark testimony and circumstantial evidence suggesting Harward could be the murderer. A post-conviction investigation discovered that the prosecution did not disclose to Harward's trial lawyer that crime lab serologist, David A. Pomposini, failed to include in his written report or testify during Harward's trials, that testing excluded his blood type from matching that of the assailant's blood recovered from the crime scene. Post-conviction DNA testing in 2016 by the Virginia Department of Forensic Science of sperm left by the assailant excluded Harward, but matched the DNA profile of Jerry L. Crotty, a shipmate of Harward’s on the USS Carl Vinson at the time of the attack. Crotty died in prison in Ohio in 2006; he was being held for abduction, attempted burglary and other charges. On March 4, 2016 a petition for a writ of actual innocence was filed in the Virginia Supreme Court, and on April 6, 2016 Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring announced he believed Harward was innocent and his office joined the petition. On April 7, 2016 the Virginia Supreme Court granted Harward's petition for a writ of actual innocence based on the new exclusionary DNA evidence. Harward was released from prison on April 8, 2016 after more than 33 years in custody. Harward's was the fifth writ of actual innocence granted by the Supreme Court of Virginia based on new biological evidence. On February 21, 2017 the Virginia legislature -- without a single no vote -- passed a bill awarding Harward $1.55 million in compensation. The bill awarded Harward $309,688 to be paid within 60 days after Harward waived any claims against the State of North Carolina, and the remaining $1.24 million was to be used to purchase an annuity. NC Governor Terry McAuliffe has until March 27, 2017 to sign the bill." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On April 7, 2016 the Virginia Supreme Court granted Harward's petition for a writ of actual innocence based on new DNA evidence that excluded him as the assailant, and identified the DNA profile of a shipmate of Harward's who died in 2006 while jailed awaiting trial for a number of felony charges." |
Defendant Aided By: |
"Washington DC law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Innocence Project of New York, and Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring." |
Compensation Awarded: |
"$1.55 (State of North Carolina, March 2017)" |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
Yes |
Age When Imprisoned: |
27 |
Age When Released: |
60 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"In Re. Keith Allen Harward, No. 160353 (VA Sup. Ct., 4-7-2016) (Granting petition for a writ of actual innocence.)" |
Information Location 1: |
http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/richmond.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/01/20166cbf-cc0d-5468-b004-3ce912876086/5706ab9e88175.pdf.pdf |
Information Source 2: |
"Wrongly imprisoned for 33 years, Keith Allen Harward to be set free from Va. prison today, By Frank Green (Staff writer), Richmond Times-Dispatch, April 7, 2016" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.richmond.com/news/article_2ccf0c0c-80c3-537a-8eaa-3ed39c90ac37.html |
Information Source 3: |
"Harward v. Commonwealth, 330 SE 2d 89 (Va Sup Ct 1985) (Reversing conviction and ordering that retrial can be fore no greater than first-degree murder.)" |
Information Location 3: |
"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6042376415878840690&q=Keith+Harward&hl=en&as_sdt=6,48" |
Information Source 4: |
"Harward v. Commonwealth., 364 SE 2d 511 (VA Ct of Appeals 1988) (Affirming conviction and sentence.)" |
Information Location 4: |
"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6077612422898160943&q=Keith+Harward&hl=en&as_sdt=6,48" |
Information Source 5: |
"After Harward exoneration, Va. proceeds with review of 200 old blood-typing cases, By Frank Green (Staff), Richmond Times-Dispatch, May 11, 2016" |
Information Location 5: |
http://www.richmond.com/news/article_5756d670-93ab-50c9-b75e-24d2afc6c6e8.html |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org