Defense lawyers say DNA tests clear client, implicate new suspect

Defense lawyers say DNA tests clear client, implicate new suspect


By the Associated Press

Published April 6, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- New testing of old DNA evidence not only proves the innocence of a former death row inmate but implicates another man in the rape and slaying of a woman in 1982, according to defense documents filed Tuesday.

Earl Washington Jr., who spent more than nine years on death row, was pardoned based on DNA testing in 2000--17 years after he was imprisoned for the killing. That testing, done by the state, determined only that the genetic material found on the victim was from an unidentified man who was not Washington.
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Washington's lawyers sent the DNA samples to Edward T. Blake, a California scientist, who concluded that semen found on the body of Rebecca Williams was left by a serial rapist, Kenneth Tinsley.

In a civil suit filed in federal court, Washington's attorneys have alleged that police and prosecutors coerced Washington, who has an IQ of 69, into confessing to a crime he did not commit and ignored details that pointed to his innocence.
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http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/virginia/dp-clearinginmatesname0406apr06,0,5259330.story?coll=dp-headlines-virginia