ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 22, 1995 TAG: 9512220041
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
A teen-ager who spent 15 months in prison because his accusers lied was pardoned Thursday and released into the arms of his parents.
Gov. George Allen granted an absolute pardon to Christopher Prince, 19, of Culpeper, two months after two girls recanted testimony that put Prince in prison.
``I'm going home to do my Christmas shopping,'' Prince told reporters just before he left the Staunton Correctional Center with his parents, Vernon and Mary Prince.
Prince, whose IQ of 75 is considered borderline retarded by many doctors, on the advice of his former attorney pleaded no contest to breaking and entering with the intent to commit a felony. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison with half the sentence suspended.
A 13-year-old girl picked Prince out of a police lineup and said he entered her bedroom and told her he intended to have sex with her. Her 12-year-old friend also said she saw Prince in the house.
A man had raised the window and sneaked into the house on the night of Feb. 9, 1994, but the intruder did no damage and took nothing, Culpeper County Commonwealth's Attorney Gary L. Close said. The girls fled and called police from a neighbor's house.
Close said he did not know whether an intruder ever entered the girl's bedroom.
In October, both girls admitted they had lied, and Close and the police who arrested Prince joined Prince's new attorney, Cary Greenberg of Alexandria, in asking a judge to free him. The judge refused, saying he lacked the authority. Lawyers for both sides appealed to higher courts and asked Allen for clemency.
``As far as I'm concerned, it's clear Christopher Prince is innocent,'' Allen said in announcing the pardon on his monthly statewide radio show.
Allen said results of a lie detector test administered by the State Police indicated the 12-year-old girl told the truth in recanting her previous statements.
Close said he will charge the older girl with perjury because of her false testimony at a preliminary hearing. If convicted, she could be confined to a juvenile center until age 21, but Close said he doubts that will happen.
``Practically speaking, there's probably very little that's going to happen to that girl,'' he said. ``The juvenile justice system as it is set up now just doesn't consider this to be a very serious offense.''
He said he also was considering charging the younger girl, who has moved to Florida.
Vernon Prince said as his son was freed, ``Christmas has been on hold for the family because we didn't know whether he would be out or not. We don't have a tree up, but we're going to go fix that now.''
Greenberg said he might advise Prince to file a claim with the General Assembly next month rather than suing the state for compensation for his time in prison.
The girls' story crumbled when a private investigator the Princes hired - a former FBI agent - began questioning them.
The girls admitted they lied only after the Princes agreed not to sue them.
``I was mad at the girls at first, but they're young and I'm OK with it now. You learn to forgive,'' Christopher Prince said.
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. ``I'm going home to do my Christmas shopping,''by CNBChristopher Prince said when he was freed Friday. His father said
they planned to go get a Christmas tree. color.