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Earl Washington's Attorneys Suggest Prosecutor Lied To Protect Death Sentence
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
December 20, 2006

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA--Attorneys for Earl Washington, Jr. are casting doubt on statements made by the prosecutor who worked to send him to death row for nine years -- and nearly to the executioner's chamber -- over a crime that he has since been cleared of.

According to the Times-Dispatch, papers filed earlier this month by Washington's attorneys bring up questions about whether John C. Bennett, who was Culpeper Commonwealth's Attorney in 1993, witnessed Washington's confession to the 1982 rape and murder of Rebecca Lynn Williams.

Bennett has testified under oath that he was not present when Washington confessed. But Virginia Deputy Attorney General John H. McLees Jr., claimed under oath that Bennett told him he was present.

If Bennett did, in fact, witness the confession, he might not have been legally able to prosecute Washington, who has been described as having mild mental retardation caused by an early childhood brain injury, because he Bennett could have been called as a witness in the trial.

Washington's lawyers said in May that they were considering taking legal action against Bennett for what they believed was his attempt to rescue the death sentence after DNA testing seemed to clear Washington of the crime.

DNA tests done on evidence gathered at the crime scene led one governor to commute Washington's death sentence to life in prison in 1994, and another governor to pardon him and order his release in 2001. Further DNA tests pointed to Kenneth Maurice Tinsley, who is already serving a life sentence for a separate rape conviction.

Tinsley, who is scheduled to stand trial next month for Williams' rape and murder, could face the death penalty if convicted of the crimes.

In May of this year, a jury ordered the estate of State Police investigator Curtis Reese Wilmore to pay $2.25 million to Washington, upon finding that Wilmore fabricated evidence leading him to confess.

Related:
"Prosecutor's statement questioned" (Times-Dispatch)

http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/06/red/1220c.htm
"Tinsley set for arraignment" (Culpeper Citizen)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/06/red/1220d.htm
"Earl Washington, Jr." (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/laws/earlwashington.htm

Copyright © 2006 Inonit Publishing
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