Va. works to notify felons their case has DNA

By DENA POTTER

October 14, 2008

RICHMOND, Va. - State officials trying to notify hundreds of felons that their case files contain newly discovered, but decades-old DNA evidence that could exonerate them are having a hard time finding many of the convicts.

The problems prompted the Virginia State Crime Commission on Tuesday to order a team to study better ways of notifying more than 1,000 felons who committed certain felonies from 1973 through 1988. Last month, letters were sent to nearly 400 felons, but officials were still searching for addresses for the rest.

Of the letters that were mailed, 23 percent of the felons acknowledged receiving them, Shawn Armbrust, executive director of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, told the commission. Another 15 percent were returned by the postal service, she said.

Virginia's one-of-a-kind DNA testing project began in 2005 when then-Gov. Mark Warner ordered examination of all case files from 1973 through 1988 after five men were cleared of rape charges from biological evidence preserved in their files long before DNA testing got under way in the early 1990s.

Since then, the Department of Forensic Science has scoured more than 500,000 case files and identified more than 1,000 defendants with old DNA evidence in their cases.

In March, the General Assembly ordered the state Forensic Science Board to notify each person that the evidence was found.

Armbrust's organization is listed on the letters for those who have questions. She said many of those who have contacted her are not sure if they were the intended recipient because of inaccuracies in the letters, such as missing case numbers, wrong offense dates or incorrect names.

A spokesman for the Department of Forensic Science said just because people aren't responding to the letters doesn't mean they aren't receiving them.

"It's important not to suggest that because callers call with questions that it's not working or that because recipients don't send in acknowledgment that they're not getting them," spokesman Tom Gasparoli said. "We can't make that assumption."

The crime commission wants a group of stakeholders to meet to see if they can find a way for volunteer lawyers to ensure delivery of the letters. That idea was previously rejected because the case information was confidential and couldn't legally be shared with private attorneys.

"We recognize and agree with all the parties who felt that confirmation of receipt of these letters is critical and we want to make sure they get to the right people as soon as they can," Gasparoli said. "We also believe that there's clearly been steady progress since the letters started going out."

Armbrust said she received a letter from a prisoner who said he had been waiting 33 years for the chance to prove his innocence. She said she received a call that another letter went to a man who had died in August.

"There are a lot of people out there who have been waiting for this chance for a very long time and have given up hope, and this project is giving them hope," she said. "If this process continues to drag on and on, they're not going to get that chance to prove their innocence."

While the DNA project has cleared five men so far, it also has put others behind bars.

Last week, a Richmond man was arrested after testing of DNA linked him to the rape of an 81-year-old widow 34 years ago.

In August, review of old DNA evidence led to an arrest in the 1975 rape and slaying of an elderly Emporia woman. Another man was convicted in that case, appealed and the charges were dropped. He died of natural cassias four years ago.