
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 25, 1993                   TAG: 9304250182
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

DNA-TEST CASE PROMPTS REVIEW

The case of a man imprisoned seven years for a rape that prosecutors said he may not have committed could prompt a change in Virginia's strict rule governing evidence discovered after a trial.

Gov. Douglas Wilder freed Walter T. Snyder Jr. on Friday, saying new genetic tests cast serious doubt on the rape conviction.

Advanced DNA tests were not available when Snyder was convicted of raping an Alexandria woman in her bedroom in 1986. But tests done on crime scene material this year virtually ruled out Snyder as a suspect, prosecutors and his lawyer said.

Snyder's case should provide "sufficient impetus" for legislature to liberalize the evidence rule, Wilder said Friday.

The law prohibits introduction of new evidence 21 days after the trial court has ruled.

"There may be some sentiment to change the time beyond 21 days, but not indefinitely," said Del. James Almand, D-Arlington, chairman of the House Courts of Justice Committee. The committee would have jurisdiction over any change.

But John E. Kloch, the Alexandria commonwealth's attorney who joined in the clemency appeal after his office had successfully prosecuted Snyder, said he did not think the law should be changed.

"Most of the time the 21-day rule works," Kloch said.

And, in the cases when it doesn't, the governor's right of clemency may work better than the law, he said.

In the General Assembly, an informal subcommittee failed to agree on whether to extend the 21-day evidence period. The panel's work has been rolled into a joint legislative study, with a deadline for recommendations by the 1994 legislative session.

"The problem is you say, `OK, extend the period,' that's an invitation to file and file and file whether you've got evidence or not," said Del. Clifton Woodrum, D-Roanoke, chairman of the ad hoc committee that met with commonwealth's attorneys and defense attorneys over the past year.

Woodrum said the subcommittee was waiting for a U.S. Supreme Court decision involving a challenge to the Texas law, which allows 30 days for new evidence.

by CNB