DNA Test Could Free Retarded Man on Death Row in Virginia Slaying

A DNA test raises serious questions about the guilt of a mentally retarded man who has been sentenced to die in Virginia’s electric chair for raping and killing a woman in 1982, state officials acknowledged last month.

The news ultimately could result in the release of Earl Washington Jr., 34, who was convicted of the crime based on a confession that defense lawyers maintain was coerced because of his limited intelligence.

Atty. Gen. Stephen D. Rosenthal said the most sophisticated DNA test was not conducted because too little sperm had been preserved well enough for examination. But another genetic test, looking for more general traits, yielded mixed results and so Washington cannot yet be eliminated as a suspect, he said.

“The test threw us a curveball,” Rosenthal said. “It neither established his innocence, nor did it rule him out as a perpetrator.”

Despite calls from Washington’s supporters for his immediate release, the inmate will remain on Death Row at the Mecklenburg Correctional Center pending a review by Gov. L. Douglas Wilder and further tests, Rosenthal said.

The development is the latest in a case that has generated national debate about the mentally retarded and capital punishment. Medical tests have indicated that Washington has the mentality of a 10-year-old and an IQ of 69.

The recent DNA testing on him also shows that, despite cases in which DNA tests immediately exonerated suspects, scientific answers are not always so precise.

Washington was sentenced to die nine years ago for killing 19-year-old Rebecca Lynn Williams on the morning of June 4, 1982. Authorities said she was raped and stabbed 38 times in her Culpeper apartment while her two children--ages 6 months and 2 years--were in another room.

Genetic tests not available at the time of the initial criminal investigation were done in recent weeks at Rosenthal’s request. But the attorney general said that not enough sperm and other fluids were preserved to do the most scientific DNA test. Instead, another kind of genetic test was done in which the fluids were examined for more general characteristics or traits.

That test yielded the mixed results, Rosenthal said.

He said the results were consistent with a mix of fluids from more than one individual, raising the possibility that Washington had some involvement. But he also acknowledged that the victim, in a statement made to a neighbor just after the attack, said she was stabbed by one black man who acted alone.

“The test showed there is a trace that could not have been donated by Earl Washington and there also is a trace there that is consistent with Earl Washington,” Rosenthal said. “It is by no means absolutely conclusive.”

Rosenthal said additional samples will be tested by the state’s crime laboratory and the entire criminal case will be reviewed in hopes of resolving the issue. But he said the final answer might never emerge and that it might be up to Wilder, as governor, to decide what to do with Washington.

An execution date has not yet been set for Washington, but he has exhausted nearly all his appeals. The most recent ruling came in September when the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond ruled the prosecution’s case was adequate.

Washington’s lawyers next intended to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. If that failed, his electrocution could have come next year.

Washington supporters said the test bolsters his claims of innocence.

“The test demonstrates that Earl Washington could not have done this crime,” said Eric M. Freedman, a Hofstra University law professor who has argued Washington’s case on appeal.

Freedman said the test shows that Washington could be linked to the rape only if he were one of two or more assailants, which would be contrary to what Williams told police. Noting that the state’s test also showed that Williams’ husband could not have contributed the sperm, Freedman said the obvious conclusion is that Washington had nothing to do with the crime.

Washington made his confession in May, 1983, after he was arrested on an unrelated case. During an interrogation, police said, he admitted killing Williams. That was enough to convict him: Police had no fingerprints, no murder weapon and no witnesses linking him to the crime. Although he later recanted, Washington had no alibi.

No matter how the murder case is decided, Rosenthal said Washington also is serving a 30-year prison sentence stemming from a burglary and malicious wounding in 1984. Freedman said that Washington would be eligible for parole in that case and his freedom would be pursued.