A Virginia man incarcerated for 27 years after a wrongful conviction in a rape case has been granted a writ of actual innocence.
The Virginia Court of Appeals issued two opinions on Tuesday that fully exonerate Thomas Haynesworth.
Multiple victims mistakenly identified Haynesworth, now 46, as their rapist in 1984. He spent 27 years behind bars before DNA evidence cleared him in one rape for which he was convicted and another in which he was a suspect.
The two opinions clear Haynesworth in two cases in which no DNA evidence was available.
In an unusual move, Virginia Attorney General’s Office and other prosecutors involved in Haynesworth’s cases pushed for the court to declare him innocent.
— Emily Babay
