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

DATE: TUESDAY, September 21, 1993                   TAG: 9309210034
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

COURT REJECTS RETRIAL OF DEATH ROW INMATE

A death row inmate who contends he is innocent lost another round in his bid for a new trial Monday when a divided federal appeals court rejected his plea.

Earl Washington Jr., 33, argued that his trial attorney ignored forensic evidence that could have shown his innocence in the 1982 rape and murder of a Culpeper woman.

But the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the evidence was inconclusive and the prosecution still had a strong case against Washington.

"We're terribly disappointed," said Gerald T. Zerkin, a lawyer for Washington. He said the appeals court missed the significance of the forensic evidence.

"Defendants don't have to prove their innocence, there just has to be a reasonable doubt. Had this evidence been introduced it would have created that reasonable doubt," Zerkin said.

- Associated Press

by CNB