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| Texas Gov. Perry Grants Pardon Based on DNA Evidence |
| By U-Wire |
| Published: 10/15/2001 |
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Gov. Rick Perry granted a pardon Wednesday to a man convicted for the 1986 rape and murder of a Waco woman, after DNA testing confirmed his innocence. Calvin Edward Washington, 45, was released from prison in July following tests that were performed on a bloody shirt found in Washington's home. The test confirmed that the blood on the shirt did not belong to the victim. An additional test conducted in 2000 determined Washington didn't rape the victim, Juanita White, who was found beaten to death in her home. The Texas Board of Pardon and Paroles unanimously recommended the governor pardon Washington's life sentence for the 1987 capital murder conviction. McLennan County District Attorney John Segrest, State District Judge George Allen and McLennan County Sheriff Larry Lynch also recommended Washington be pardoned. Joe Sidney Williams was also sentenced to life in prison for the crime, but was freed in 1993 after an appeals court said testimony in his case was improperly admitted. The case was not retried after prosecutors said there was not sufficient credible evidence against Williams. Frank Edwards, a member of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty and a University of Texas-Austin astronomy sophomore, said the one-year delay in Washington's pardon didn't surprise him. The governor and the Texas Board of Pardon and Paroles moves slowly, he said. The justice system worked even slower prior to the passage of legislation earlier this year that facilitates post-conviction DNA testing, because poor individuals could not afford the expensive testing. The legislation established procedures to make the use of DNA evidence and post-conviction testing more accessible. 'Their chances of being adequately defended are slim to none,' he said, adding the new law in place gives poorer defendants an opportunity to defend their innocence. Benny Carroll was identified as the rapist in the 1986 crime following another DNA test earlier this year. Carroll committed suicide in 1994, but police retrieved DNA from Carroll's autopsy. A New York journalist paid for the test. |
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