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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Rape |
Sentence: |
8-1-2 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
7 |
Year Crime: |
1997 |
Year Convicted: |
1999 |
Year Cleared: |
2017 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Virginia |
County or Region of Crime: |
Norfolk |
City of Crime: |
Norfolk |
Result: |
Pardoned |
Summary of Case: |
"The Norfolk Four are Derek Tice, Danial Williams, Eric C. Wilson, and Joseph J. Dick Jr., who were all wrongly convicted of charges related to the 1997 rape and murder of 18 year old Michelle Moore-Bosko in Norfolk, Virginia while her husband in the Navy was at sea. There is no physical, forensic or DNA evidence linking any of the four men to the crime. However, all four confessed, but they all subsequently recanted their confessions as coerced by intense interrogation sessions that lasted for many hours. Derek Tice, Danial Willaims and Joseph Dick were convicted of rape and murder and sentnced to life in prison. Eric Wilson was convicted after a trial of rape only, and sentenced to 8-1-2 years in prison. The Virginia Court of Appeals overturned both convictions in 2002. Tice was re-convicted after a retrial in January 2003, and sentenced to two life terms. The judge at the retrial was the same as at the first trial. After the Virginia Court of Appeals and the Virginia Supreme Court affirmed Tice's convictions, he filed a state habeas corpus petition. After that was denied by the state Supreme Court, he filed a federal habeas corpus petition. Wilson was released in September 2006 after completing his sentence. On September 14, 2009, a federal judge granted Tice’s federal habeas corpus petition and overturned his conviction. That was a month after Tice was released on August 6, 2009, after Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine conditionally pardoned the three Norfolk Four defendants who were still imprisoned. Derek Tice's DNA doesn't match that of the known perpetrator, who confessed and told police that he acted alone. Derek Tice was first jailed in June 1998. On August 4, 2011 the State of Virginia dropped the charges against Tice and a judge dismissed them, simply saying, "It is over." On October 31, 2016 U.S. District Judge John Gibney granted the federal habeas corpus petitions of Williams and Dick, and ordered a new trial for the two in ruling "no sane human being" could find them guilty. Gibney also stated: "By any measure, the evidence shows the defendants’ innocence—by a preponderance of the evidence, by clear and convincing evidence, by evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.” Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring vociferously opposed the petitions of Williams and Dick until Oct. 26, 2016, when five days before Gibney's ruling the AG withdrew its opposition to their petitions. On December 15, 2016 the motion by the Norfolk County Commonwealth Attorney to dismiss the charges against Williams and Dick was granted. On March 21, 2017 Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe granted unconditional pardons to the Norfolk Four based on their innocence." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Coerced confessions from all four defendants. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On March 21, 2017 Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe granted an unconditional pardon to Eric Wilson, and his three codefendants, based on their innocence." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
Yes |
Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"The ‘Norfolk Four’ Convicted of Brutal Rape And Murder Committed By Lone Assailant, By Larry Tice, Justice Denied, Issue 30, Fall 2005, 6" |
Information Location 1: |
http://justicedenied.org/issue/issue_30/jd_issue_30.pdf |
Information Source 2: |
""Capital murder conviction reversed in Bosko case," (AP) The Virginian-Pilot, May 21, 2002" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.pilotonline.com/breaking/br0521bos.html |
Information Source 3: |
"Out of Prison? For Some, That Might Mean Out of Luck, By Adam Liptak (staff writer), The New York Times, April 1, 2013" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/us/eric-wilson-one-of-norfolk-four-challenges-conviction.html?_r=0 |
Information Source 4: |
"Norfolk Four pardoned in rape and killing; sailors’ confessions coerced, By Alanna Durkin Richer (Associated Press), The Mercury News (San Jose, CA), March 21, 2017" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/03/21/norfolk-four-pardoned-in-rape-and-killing-sailors-confessions-coerced/ |
Information Source 5: |
"Email from Larry Tice to Hans Sherrer, March 15, 2004." |
Information Location 5: |
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Book About Case: |
"The Wrong Guys: Murder, False Confessions and the Norfolk Four, by Tom Wells & Richard A. Leo (The New Press: 2008)" |
Book Information: |
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Book About Case (2): |
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Book Information (2): |
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Movie About Case: |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org