Former Va. Death Row Prisoner Released
V I R G I N I A B E A C H, Va., Feb. 12 -- Earl Washington Jr. walked out ofprison today after spending 9 ½ years on death row for a murder hedidn't commit.
Largely illiterate and with an IQ of 69, Washington confessed tothe 1982 rape and slaying of Rebecca Lynn Williams even though nofingerprints or biological evidence tied him to the crime.
However, DNA tests showed he was wrongly convicted. He was movedoff death row in 1994 after his sentence was commuted to life.
He was released from Greensville Correctional Center in Jarrattat about 6:45 a.m. today and taken to Virginia Beach, where he hadbeen assigned to live in an apartment building run by a supportcenter for mentally disabled people, state officials said.
"He's here and he's a free man," said Andie Plumley, chiefoperations officer for the center, Support Services of Virginia,which is helping Washington make his transition to life outsideprison. She said Washington met with friends during the morning.
Washington has six months of parole to serve on an unrelatedassault conviction.
Saved by DNA Tests
Washington, 40, came within nine days of being executed in theelectric chair in 1985 but was granted a stay.
A 1993 DNA test cast doubt on his guilt and prompted then-Gov.L. Douglas Wilder, a Democrat, to commute his sentence to life.Last fall, additional DNA tests found genetic material belonging totwo other men, and Republican Gov. Jim Gilmore pardoned Washington.
"It made me happy," Washington said in an interview Friday."He [Gilmore] did a good job by my book."
Washington's supporters had hoped he could go to the District ofColumbia to meet with congressmen and reporters after his release,but state officials refused to let him go because of his remainingparole time.
"It is not now, nor has it ever been our practice to letrecently released inmates travel out of state," correctionsofficials James R. Camanche wrote to Rep. Robert C. Scott, D-Va,who had invited Washington to his office to discuss wrongfulconvictions.
