THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 26, 1994 TAG: 9408260599
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LAURA LAFAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
Advocates for convicted rapist Edward Honaker, who sought clemency from Gov. George Allen after DNA tests apparently ruled him out as the perpetrator earlier this year, said Thursday that Allen's claim of new evidence in the case is a political and ``desperate, last-ditch effort to maintain the false conviction of an innocent man.''
``Politics is a factor,'' said Jim McCloskey, executive director of Centurion Ministries Inc., which has worked for two years to free Honaker.
``We're asking a law and order governor to free a man convicted of a heinous crime. The only problem is, he didn't do it.''
``We're not naive, '' Kate Germond, who investigated the case for Centurion, said of Allen. ``We knew who we were dealing with. But we trusted him.''
Allen has been considering the petition since June. He now maintains that state police have discovered new evidence that casts doubt on Honaker's innocence. That evidence consists of disclosure by the victim that, in addition to her fiance, she had a secret lover at the time of the rape.
Although the woman testified during Honaker's trial that her last act of consensual sex before the rape took place with her fiance two to three days beforehand, she changed her story when Allen sent state police investigators to question her this summer.
``She is now saying that she had a secret lover during the time of the rape, but that she can't remember if she had sex with this secret lover during that time,'' said McCloskey.
At Allen's request, Dr. Paul B. Ferrara, director of the state's Division of Forensic Science, performed DNA tests on the saliva of the secret lover and compared them to evidence from a vaginal swab taken from the victim after the rape. At the request of the chief prosecutor in Nelson County, where Honaker was convicted, Ferrara performed a DNA test on the swab earlier this year that showed no genetic trace of Honaker.
The new test neither confirmed nor ruled out the secret lover as the source of the sperm on the swab. However, Ferrara said this week, the possibility of a third sexual encounter confuses the identification of the rapist and leaves open the possibility that Honaker's presence could have been ``masked,'' or covered, by the third man's sperm.
Germond, who noted that Honaker has been unable to produce sperm since a 1977 vasectomy, called this contention ``stupid.''
``Their theory is that whomever she had sex with two to four days prior to the assault is represented more strongly on the swab than her rapist,'' she said.
The victim lives in Newport News. She has apparently married and divorced both the fiance and the secret lover she had at the time of the rape. On Thursday, Germond questioned her credibility.
``She clearly stated at trial that the last time she had consensual sex was Tuesday or Wednesday with her boyfriend. If that's not true, then she lied at trial. And if she lied at trial, what kind of credibility does she have now?''
If the governor rejects Honaker's bid for clemency, said McCloskey and Germond, Honaker's lawyers will file a writ of habeas corpus. They will ask for a new trial on the basis that the victim, unbeknownst to the defense, was hypnotized before she identified Honaker as her rapist. Post-hypnotic identifications are not admissible as evidence in Virginia.
Allen, who ran for office last year on a platform of cracking down on crime, was at the state capital Thursday to promote his effort to abolish parole. Flanked by five female ``homicide survivors'' who are traveling with him around the state to tell the stories of their murdered loved ones, Allen called for ``a justice system that is justice for law-abiding people and for victims.''
After the speeches, Allen summed up his interpretation of the new information in the Honaker case:
``It doesn't say for certain that (Honaker) did it, but it doesn't say for certain that he didn't do it.''
Allen also said he was ``concerned'' that Honaker's attorneys had asked for clemency before exhausting their legal remedies in the case.
``The question is, do we want to short-circuit the justice system? . . . I'll make a decision on that fairly shortly,'' he said.
McCloskey, who listened as Allen discussed the case with reporters, said Honaker's lawyers asked for clemency because they felt it was the quickest way to get him out of prison.
``It's not a question of short-circuiting the justice system,'' said McCloskey. ``Asking the governor for executive clemency is a clear and legal option. It's clearly within his authority. That's why we submitted the petition.''
Honaker, 44, has served almost 10 years for the 1984 rape.
KEYWORDS: RAPE SEX CRIME DNA by CNB