Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 21, 1994 TAG: 9410210042
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Gov. George Allen appears near a decision in the case of Edward Honaker, the Roanoke man who has spent 10 years in prison for a rape he says he did not commit.
Barry Scheck, Honaker's attorney, said the governor's investigation of the case - which includes the review of new evidence based on DNA test results - is "complete or just about complete."
The Washington Post, quoting sources it did not name, said Honaker could be freed as early as today. One source told the Post that an announcement was planned for 10:30 a.m.
Allen's office had no comment Thursday. Scheck said the governor's office has not indicated to him that a pardon is certain.
Scheck is a New York law professor whose expertise in the legal ramifications of DNA testing has won him a place on O.J. Simpson's defense team. He said that he has been in frequent contact with Allen's counsel, Frank Atkinson, and that the governor has conducted a thorough investigation of Honaker's case.
"And I have to be hopeful," Scheck said. "Obviously, I'm expecting a decision."
For the first time in Honaker's long struggle for freedom, his advocates say they are encouraged by signs from Allen's office, which has been reviewing Honaker's clemency petition since June.
This week, Honaker also displayed optimism, telling officials at Nottoway Correctional Center, where he is an inmate, that "his attorney has told him that there are rumblings he will be pardoned," said Kimberley Runion, an operations officer at the prison.
Last week, the governor received additional DNA test results from Centurion Ministries, the prisoner-advocacy group in New Jersey that has investigated Honaker's case and fought for his release. The most recent round of tests further eliminated Honaker as the rapist and pinpointed the genetic makeup of the apparent rapist, according to Kate Germond, an investigator with the organization.
For the past decade, Honaker has said he was innocent of abducting, raping and sodomizing a Newport News woman at gunpoint on June 22, 1984.
Four months after the assault, Honaker was identified as the rapist by the victim and her boyfriend. Honaker's defense was based on family and friends who said he was in Roanoke when the rape occurred on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Nelson County. Honaker also said he was unable to produce sperm because of a 1977 vasectomy.
On Feb. 7, 1985, he was convicted and sentenced to three life sentences on rape and sodomy charges, plus 34 years for aggravated sexual battery and various gun charges.
Two years ago, Honaker asked Centurion Ministries for help. In March, the organization released the first round of DNA tests, which were unavailable at the time of Honaker's trial. Those tests ruled out Honaker and the victim's then-boyfriend as possible sources of the semen 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 became known as the "secret lover." His DNA matched the evidence from the 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 eliminate Honaker as the rapist.
The most recent genetic tests further broke down the DNA samples and indicated that the secret lover's DNA makeup did not exactly match the evidence from the rape. The tests also targeted the genetic makeup of the apparent rapist.
"But it's not just the DNA that clears Honaker. There's a lot of evidence," Scheck said.
In his petition for clemency, Scheck cited inconsistencies between the victim's description of the rapist and Honaker. The victim said her attacker appeared to be left-handed; Honaker is right-handed. The victim said her attacker discussed at length his service in Vietnam; Honaker never served in Vietnam. And the victim described her attacker's vehicle the day of the incident as yellow and light colored; Honaker's vehicle was blue.
Scheck also said in the petition that the victim and her boyfriend were hypnotized to elicit information about the rape. Testimony concerning hypnotically enhanced recollections is inadmissible in Virginia courts.
"I'm confident after looking at all the evidence that a pardon is appropriate and necessary," Scheck said.
by CNB