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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Attempted Rape and Kidnapping (Abduction) |
Sentence: |
35 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
27.5 |
Year Crime: |
1986 |
Year Convicted: |
1986 |
Year Cleared: |
2015 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Virginia |
County or Region of Crime: |
Richmond |
City of Crime: |
Richmond |
Result: |
Pardoned |
Summary of Case: |
"Michael Kenneth McAlister was wrongly convicted on September 24, 1986 of attempted rape and abduction of a 22-year-old woman on February 23, 1986 from the laundry room at the Town and Country Apartments in South Richmond, Virginia. McAlister's prosecution was based on his identification by the victim. She said that he wore a red plaid shirt and a stocking mask hid most of his face. She scratched his face while trying to fight him off. The police made a composite sketch from the woman's description. An investigator thought the sketch resembled McAlister, and he was questioned. He had no scratches on his face and adamantly denied being involved in the attack. He agree to pose for a picture to be shown the victim, and he agreed to wear a red plaid shirt. On March 3, 1986 she identified McAlister from that photo. McAlister waived his right to a jury trial. He was convicted after a bench (judge) only trial during which the prosecutor told the judge that Michael McAlister was guilty "pure and simple." McAlister was sentenced to 40 years in prison for abduction with the intent to defile, and 10 years for attempted rape, with 15 years suspended. After McAlister was convicted the lead detective in the case, Charles M. Martin, became convinced of McAlister's innocence, and that the crime had actually been committed by Norman Bruce Derr. Derr was believed to have committed assaults with an MO similar to the woman's assault in Richmond. Martin believed the victim misidentified McAlister because he was wearing a red plaid shirt and he faintly resembled Derr. McAlister's prosecutor, Joseph D. Morrissey, also suspected that McAlister had been misidentified, and stated that if he had known about Derr at the time of McAlister's trial he wouldn't have prosecuted him. Both Martin and Morrissey testified before the Virginia Parole Board to urge McAlister's release. His early parole was denied. McAlister filed a clemency petition that included Martin's statement: "I am convinced that Mr. McAlister did not commit the crimes for which he is incarcerated and that he was simply misidentified by the victim." Virginia Gov. Mark Warner declined to pardon McAlister in 2003. McAlister was released on mandatory parole on August 19, 2004. His parole was revoked in 2006 for violating conditions of his release, and he was returned to prison to serve the remainder of his sentence. On June 7, 2013 Jerry Lee Jenkins was exonerated of a rape that DNA testing linked to Derr. That rape had been committed on February 6, 1986 by Derr while he was wearing a stocking mask and a plaid shirt, and it was only 17 days from the rape that McAlister had been convicted of committing. In February 2014 the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project announced it was taking on McAlister's case. When interrogated Derr gave a full confession to the rape McAlister had been convicted of committing. Michael McAlister was granted a full pardon by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe on May 13, 2015 based on a credible confession by Norman Derr to the crimes McAlister was convicted of committing. On April 8, 2016 the Virginia legislature approved payment of $1,268,694 to McAlister, with $253,740 to be paid in a lump sum, and the balance of $1,014,954 to fund an annuity. On October 8, 2016 the 60-year-old McAlister was arrested in Orlando, Florida and charged with felony charge of possession of cocaine, and misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and destruction of evidence. McAlister pled not guilty and was released on bond. If convicted of the charges it will likely bar his receipt of any annuity payments, because Virginia law states: "“Any person awarded compensation ... who is subsequently convicted of a felony shall, immediately upon such conviction, not be eligible to receive any unpaid amounts from any compensation awarded and his beneficiaries shall not be eligible to receive any payments under an annuity.”" |
Conviction Caused By: |
"Eywitness error by the victim, because the attacker was masked and she didn't actually see her attacker." |
Innocence Proved By: |
"McAlister was granted a full pardon by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe on May 13, 2015 based on a credible confession by Norman Bruce Derr to the crimes McAlister was convicted of committing." |
Defendant Aided By: |
"Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project and Miller & Chevalier Law Firm, Washington D.C." |
Compensation Awarded: |
"$1,268,694 (State of Maryland, April 2016) ($253,740 pd in lump sum and balance used to fund annuity.)" |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
Yes |
Age When Imprisoned: |
29 |
Age When Released: |
58 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"McAlister leaves prison 29 years after wrongful convictions, By Frank Green (Staff), Richmond Times-Dispatch, May 13, 2015" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.richmond.com/news/local/crime/article_ec35df9f-74a1-5dc6-abb5-6f691aea2e43.html |
Information Source 2: |
"Innocence project takes on McAlister case, By Frank Green (Staff), Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 16, 2014" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.richmond.com/news/local/crime/article_4edb62ee-96b3-11e3-ae35-0017a43b2370.html |
Information Source 3: |
"Anger Shadows Freedom: Parole, Not Exoneration, to Release Va. Man, By Jerry Markon (Staff writer), Washington Post, August 18, 2004; Page B01" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9621-2004Aug17.html |
Information Source 4: |
"Exonerated man arrested on new charges, By Frank Green, Culpeper Star-Exponent, December 17, 2016" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.dailyprogress.com/starexponent/news/exonerated-man-arrested-on-new-charges/article_e3775beb-8542-59c3-8098-41ecdc345511.html |
Information Source 5: |
"An Act for the relief of Michael Kenneth McAlister, Viginia Acts of Assembly -- 2016 Session" |
Information Location 5: |
"https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjdxbjjipPRAhVH72MKHQGGA_cQFghAMAc&url=https%3A%2F%2Flis.virginia.gov%2Fcgi-bin%2Flegp604.exe%3F161%2Bful%2BCHAP0722%2Bpdf&usg=AFQjCNFsxWBScX9y79b3WlIJltXYei5cMw&bvm=bv.142059868,d.cGc" |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org