Almost two years ago, I became aware of the plight of Arthur Whitfield. Today Governor Tim Kaine finally issued him a pardon, nearly four years after it was requested and almost five years since he was released from prison after serving 22 years for a crime he did not commit.
I’ll say again what I said before: when the evidence exonerates you, the pardon should be automatic. That is has taken this long for Whitfield to truly gain his freedom is a stain on what we call justice. Virginia should be ashamed.
Truly ridiculous it took this long.
Posted by Ian Jordan | Monday, April 6, 2009, 9:28 pmThat this took so long is a disgrace to Virginia, the idea of justice, and ultimately to the Governor himself.
Maybe he was too busy to think about Whitfield’s freedom.
Posted by Mark Brooks | Monday, April 6, 2009, 11:17 pmI guess Obama was more important for a few years.
Posted by Brian Kirwin | Tuesday, April 7, 2009, 7:27 amHow does one get pardoned for a crime one did not commit? The conviction should be overturned.
Posted by Anon E. Mouse | Tuesday, April 7, 2009, 8:29 amIf I recall correctly, this whole thing was a screwup. He was released from prison after the DNA evidence cleared him. Because he had been released, the VA Supreme Court declined to declare him innocent, saying they had no jurisdiction. (I’m getting that from the clip of the article I posted in the original story. The link in that story is now dead.) So it seems no one could overturn the conviction and a pardon was the only option.
Posted by vjp | Tuesday, April 7, 2009, 10:00 amScience definitively disproved the rape victims (false witnesses) in the case but they still insisting that somehow his DNA had miraculously disappeared from their rape kits while theirs and their rapist was still there!
Posted by Bil | Monday, April 13, 2009, 3:43 pm