Michelle Washington
The Virginian-Pilot
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Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell has joined those urging the General Assembly to provide immediate state compensation during its special session in August for Arthur Whitfield, a wrongfully convicted man who served 22 years in prison.
Contacted by The Virginian-Pilot, McDonnell's Democratic opponent, state Sen. Creigh Deeds, said through spokesman Jared Leopold that he too supports "prompt assistance" for Whitfield and called for a bill in the special session.
While Gov. Timothy M. Kaine prefers to keep a special session's focus narrow - a feeling shared by many legislative leaders - he isn't expected to object to the inclusion of a claims bill for Whitfield.
Whitfield was convicted of two rapes in Norfolk's Ghent neighborhood in 1981 and sentenced to 63 years. He was released on parole in August 2004, when DNA results showed his innocence.
In the years since his release, Whitfield has struggled to get his life on track. A state Supreme Court ruling based on a technicality denied him a "writ of actual innocence," or a finding that he did not commit the crimes, and has so far prevented him from receiving any state compensation. He has worked a variety of jobs, his car has been impounded, and he has struggled to pay his bills. He's facing health problems as well.
The way for Whitfield to receive funds was cleared earlier this year when Kaine granted him an absolute pardon.
Last week, state Sen. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, announced that he will sponsor legislation to provide $445,703 in compensation for Whitfield, or about $20,000 for each year he spent in prison. The amount is based on a formula established by the state in 2004. Sen. Ralph Northam, D-Norfolk, has co-sponsored the bill.
The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus also has submitted legislation, sponsored by Del. Kenny Alexander D-Norfolk, and has urged the governor and General Assembly to take up the issue, as has Del. Sal Iaquinto, R-Virginia Beach.
In a statement issued Tuesday, McDonnell, a former state attorney general, said the Aug. 19 special session is the time to act.
"Extremely rarely is someone wrongfully convicted," McDonnell said in the statement. "If this happens, we must correct it promptly."
The next opportunity would not be until the regular legislative session in January.
Kaine last week called the special session to consider an amendment to state law dealing with how government forensic scientists are called to testify in criminal trials. The state needs to respond to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that places the burden on prosecutors to have crime analysts testify in court about evidence, rather than simply submit a written report. Kaine said legislative leaders had agreed to limit the scope of the special session.
"If every legislator brought their issue forward in the special session, the concern would be that the critical public safety issue that was intended to be considered wouldn't be adequately addressed," said Lynda Tran, the governor's spokeswoman.
Legislators will set the rules of the special session, including deciding which topics to consider, when they convene.
Whitfield's lawyer, Michael F. Fasanaro, said he has talked with several legislators since Whitfield's plight became public. Several donors, some of them anonymous, have contributed about $8,000 to help Whitfield as he waits for legislation.
Michelle Washington, (757) 446-2287, michelle.washington@pilotonline.com
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Pay him
now, this commonwealth is such a mess. If they don't pay him before he dies then the family should get paid. Maybe if, it was in court instead of being in the hands of legislators it would happen quicker, then again maybe not. The other poster who wrote about the state being like an insurance company, is so right, stall till he dies. I wonder who's paying the medical bills now. It took public outcry to get workers comp to pay for the firefighters liver transplant to be covered. This should be such an embarrassment, wrongfully jail the man for over two decades, then give him a hard time about compensation. But wait, embarrassment generally indicates some degree of shame, politicians have no shame. And I really don't want to use this gentleman's sad story as a soap box for another topic, but if he receives payment while still well enough to travel, he should go to a state that has medical marijuana to help him with his pain and loss of appetite caused by the treatment. Back in 1979, before the country went Drug War Crazy a Virginia Dr. could have written him a prescription, but not now, it's like the legislator must have attended some of the schools that only teach one to repeat what
Do the Math
A man serves Twenty two yrs in prison, and is later found to be not guilty of the charge. He will be compensated $445,703. Now, let's do the math. $445,703 divided by 22yrs = $20,259 per yr. Divide $20,259 by 52 wks and you have $389.50 per week. Divide the weekly rate by 40 hrs, and you have a great big pay of $9.74 per hr. Many Americans has started out on the wrong path, repented and went on to be successful wealthy Millionaires in this country, but Virginia has already determined the fate, and capabilities of this man's life, and capped it at less than $10.00 an hr. What a shame. The state destroys a man life, and gives him less than ten bucks an hour for his troubles. Slavery!
re: DO THE MATH
I don't know anything about this man except for what I read. He was also arrested for burglary the same evening. Let's assume that was not his first crime and that he would have committed other crimes if not wrongfully convicted.
Could his incarceration prevented crimes against your family? Yes is the answer. If you believe in God or even karma then you know that inexplicable things, both good and bad, happen for a reason. Non-believer? Then "stuff" happens.
Now for compensation - What is the man's level of education? Was he employed at the time? What was he making? What was the average minimum wage during the period of his incarceration? $450K seems about right however, punitive damage for wrongful incarceration needs to be addressed. Let's say for sake of argument that compensation be doubled...$900K should just about do it. How's that? $20/hr.
Why?
should you , me or any one else assume it wasn't his first crime? Because he was a 26 yr. old black man at the time. Well then, without knowing anything, about you, should I assume your a better criminal that hasn't been caught yet. Then why don't we all just deny him payment of any kind, because he'll just spend it on crack, and while we're using negative ignorant stereotyping, be thankful that during his 22 yrs. in jail he wasn't able to spawn dozens of welfare babies by different mothers who wouldn't be able to identify the father and he never would have paid a dime in child support. Where did you get these powers of observation, from your parents. Glad your not my dad, I'd most likely end up just as fearful as you come across in your comment. 900K sounds about right since this country is too stupid to have a single payer health system, his medical bills will take most of if not all of whatever he gets.
Was he convicted of Burglary?
The poster "armed" states that Arthur Whitfield was arrested for burglary, but he doesn't indicate if he was ever convicted of burglary. Does anyone have that info about wheter he was convicted on a burglary charge.
Its Only Right
Let us not forget that Whitfield first came to the attention of local law enforcement when he was arrested for a burglary which ocurred on the same night, not too far away from where the two women were raped. So getting fingered as a possible suspect in the rapes is not without merit.
However, there are aspects of building this case that should never have been allowed to happen, such as - allowing the two rape victims (who already knew each other) to jointly identifty him in a line up. Witnesses should always be interviewed separately, and then investigated for corroboration. It would also appear there was no physical evidence to tie him to the crimes. Only two well-meaning witnesses who convinced each other that he was the one. That's what he was convicted on. Their word and his own lack of moral character.
Despite his less than honorable lifestyle however, I seriously doubt he would have received a 22 year prison sentence for a burglary. 3-5 maybe? I believe he deserves some compensation, but it should be pro-rated on the amount of years served, over whatever the maximum penalty would have been for the burglary conviction.
I don't remember any of the trial
or anything about the original case either. But, I don't think DNA was used back then or he wouldn't have been convicted. The burglary charge most likely would have been dropped by the prosecutor who would have loved convicting a double rapist. Today we know how unreliable eyewitness testimony is, and because of recent cases in the news we also know how the cops can coerce false confessions. If the rape victims were white, this guy didn't stand a chance. I'm only speculating here, because I don't know.
So here where we stand today, there is still a rapist out there who's DNA isn't in the system. And a very ill man needs the wrongs righted. Think the police will open a cold case file to catch the real rapist, oh yeah, my fantasies cost $4.99 a minute, so I'll stop now. Least you think I'm wrong about bringing race into this story, you should know I'm a divorced white male in his fifties.
I Agree
He should be compensated for all the years he spent in prison. Thank God for Forensic Science!
Okay it was bugging me
that I didn't now more of the details of the case, so I went to Wikipedia. I know this isn't the most reliable source so maybe the Pilot will run more of a background story and give us more details and corrections. The DNA not only cleared Arthur Whitfield, but it also cleared Julius Ruffin. I had stated earlier that there were two unsolved rapes and that is incorrect. The rapist has been caught. The scary part come from the fact that neither of the wrongly convicted men even come close to the physical description of the real rapist, seems like NPD was even worse than it is now, back in 1981. The Honorable Mark Warner exonerated Ruffin, and received 1.5 million in compensation, The current governor who is to busy trying to get national attention, only pardoned Whitfield which is making it difficult for him to get compensation and keeps him on the sex offender list, something Ruffin doesn't have to do. Please,Pilot editors fill in the blanks and correct any mistakes so we the public can get a clearer view of the local police and politicians in Richmond. Also note I didn't refer to the current governor as Honorable and I would appreciate it if you didn't either. At least Palin had th