Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 12, 1994 TAG: 9410120064
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER NOTE: above
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Advocates for Edward Honaker - the Roanoke man who claims he was wrongly convicted of rape 10 years ago - say that new DNA tests further prove his innocence and pinpoint the genetic structure of the apparent rapist.
Centurion Ministries, a prisoner advocacy group that has investigated Honaker's case for two years, recently completed more specific genetic tests on sperm taken from the rape victim. The group says the test findings thwart the state's current theory of the case, which is that sperm taken from the victim originated from a ``secret lover,'' not from the rapist.
``It is inconceivable to us that Eddie won't be cut free'' in light of the new evidence, said Kate Germond, an investigator with the New-Jersey-based advocacy group.
Honaker's fate remains in the hands of Gov. George Allen, who has been reviewing the case since June. Centurion Ministries petitioned Allen for clemency for Honaker after it completed its first genetic tests on sperm taken from the victim and some of her clothing.
A spokesman for Allen's office said the new DNA results from Centurion Ministries have been forwarded to the state forensics laboratory for verification. The governor has yet to receive those reports, he said.
In October 1984, Honaker was arrested and charged with raping a Newport News woman on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Nelson County. Four months later, after a two-day trial, he was convicted and sentenced to three life sentences plus 34 years.
Honaker, who has been unable to produce sperm since a 1977 vasectomy, always has maintained his innocence.
The state's case was based on two elements: the identification of Honaker as the rapist by the victim and her boyfriend, and the testimony of a state criminologist. The criminologist's evidence suggested that a hair found on the victim's shorts was unlikely to match anyone's but Honaker's. DNA testing was not available then.
In March, Centurion Ministries released its own DNA test results, which ruled out Honaker and the victim's then-boyfriend as possible contributors of the sperm taken from the victim. The conclusion was that a third man had to be involved.
Allen had state police interview the victim again. She said that shortly before the rape she had sex with another man, who was dubbed the ``secret lover.'' His DNA matched the evidence from the 1984 rape. State forensics experts said the secret lover's sperm could have ``masked'' Honaker's semen in the test, meaning they weren't able to rule out Honaker as the rapist.
But Centurion's most recent genetic tests further broke down the DNA samples. The results indicate that the secret lover's DNA makeup does not exactly match the evidence from the 1984 rape. It also targets the genetic makeup of the apparent rapist, and it does not match Honaker's DNA, Germond said.
Allen has contended that Honaker's lawyers - who include Barry Scheck, an attorney putting his expertise in DNA to use as a member of the O.J. Simpson defense team - have not exhausted all of his legal options.
Allen spokesman Ken Stroupe would not elaborate on the legal alternatives. He said only that it was not the role of the governor to give Honaker legal advice.
Germond said Honaker could claim that he was wrongfully convicted because the defense and the jury were not told that the victim was hypnotized to elicit information about the crime.
After five months of waiting for a decision, Germond said she remains optimistic about the request for Honaker's release.
``I still hope the governor will do the right thing,'' she said.
by CNB