After 17 years in prison, DNA tests confirmed Earl...

After 17 years in prison, DNA tests confirmed Earl Washington's innocence, and he was granted an absolute pardon by Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore for the 1982 rape and murder of a Culpeper County woman. Washington, who suffers from mental retardation, spent 9 years on death row until DNA tests showed that he did not rape the victim. His sentence was commuted to life with the possibility of parole by then-Governor Wilder. Earlier this year, additional DNA tests were ordered and the results again excluded Washington as the rapist. Governor Gilmore, in granting the pardon, stated "In my judgment, a jury afforded the benefit of the DNA evidence and analysis available today would have reached a different conclusion regarding the guilt of Earl Washington." Washington remains incarcerated for an unrelated offence, even though his attorneys claim he should have been paroled eight years ago. Washington's exoneration marks the first time in Virginia that an innocent death row inmate has been cleared. On 22 December, Earl Washington was denied parole on an unrelated charge of malicious wounding. Other inmates convicted of the same crime have been paroled on average after serving 30% of their time, which would have meant that Washington could have been released after 10 years.