THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 30, 1994 TAG: 9408300010
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
Supporters of convicted rapist Edward Honaker say Gov. George Allen is just playing politics in refusing to grant him clemency. The governor, however, has not said he will not grant Honaker clemency. But he is right to take his time and make sure he makes the right decision.
No one convicted wrongly of a crime should spend one needless day behind bars, of course. But a grant of clemency is one of the governor's most awesome powers. The governor should make his decision based on the facts, not sympathetic public opinion.
Edward Honaker, sentenced to three life terms and 34 years in prison, has always maintained his innocence. And two DNA tests in private and state labs seemed to exclude him as the man who raped a Newport News woman in 1984. This case illustrates that DNA evidence, however, might not be as definitive as some people think.
The governor now says evidence obtained by the State Police casts doubt on Honaker's innocence. The twist involves a third man, a secret lover not mentioned during Mr. Honaker's jury trial.
The woman testified of having last participated in consensual sex, with her fiance, two or three days earlier. Now she reportedly can't remember whether she had sex with the secret lover during that period.
DNA testing of a specimen taken earlier from the woman showed no genetic trace of Honaker, but recent DNA testing of the lover neither confirmed nor ruled out that man as the sperm's source. An expert also says Honaker's sperm could have been ``masked'' by the lover's.
Honaker's supporters say he has been unable to produce sperm since a 1977 vasectomy, making Gov. Allen's claim of new evidence ``stupid'' and simply the politics of a law-and-order governor busy pushing his crime-fighting agenda. If DNA evidence can be used to execute a prisoner, they ask, why not to free one?
While a vasectomy blocks sperm, other seminal fluids are produced, doctors say. Andthere are numerous stories of failed vasectomies.
Unless Honaker is freed, the supporters say, they'll seek a new trial based on the woman's hypnosis before identifying Honaker as her rapist. Post-hypnotic identifications are not admissible evidence in Virginia courts.
The governor, however, seems inclined to let the wheels of justice grind as slowly as required for a reasoned and reasonable decision. Given the doubts that have been raised, that seems the best route.
It is unreasonable to expect a pardon or clemency any time soon. The governor cannot grant a new trial, and state law makes it next to impossible to get a re-trial unless new evidence is brought forward within 21 days of a conviction.
The latter situation demands General Assembly attention. No one should be kept imprisoned because of a court rule that seems to have little link with justice. Proving innocence should not have a three-week limit when a finding of guilty can have such long-lasting consequences.
Gov. Allen says he will continue to consider Honaker's plea for clemency and study the evidence but will do nothing that he sees as short-circuiting the legal system. That is not only in the interest of our law-and-order governor but in the public's interest as well. by CNB