Members of Norfolk Four rejected by Va. high court

NORFOLK

The Virginia Supreme Court this week rejected appeals from three members of the Norfolk Four to overturn their convictions.

The justices found no grounds to reverse an earlier trial court decision, they wrote in a court document filed Tuesday. The ruling could end the state appeals options for the three men and move their legal efforts to federal appeals courts.

The three former sailors, Joseph Dick, Eric C. Wilson and Danial Williams, appealed their convictions of the 1997 rape and murder of Navy wife Michelle Moore-Bosko in Norfolk. A fourth former sailor, Derek Tice, won an appeal in federal court to have his conviction dismissed.

A fifth man, Omar Ballard, confessed to committing the crime alone and is serving life in prison. Only his DNA matched evidence found at the crime scene.

Three of the sailors were granted a partial pardon in 2009 by then-Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and released from prison. The continuing appeals are an effort to completely clear their records.

Attorneys for the men maintain they are innocent. "The recent dismissal of charges against Derek Tice underscores their innocence and the need to vacate the wrongful convictions that remain intact in their cases," the statement said.

Dick, Wilson and Williams appealed their convictions based on misconduct by former Norfolk detective Robert Glenn Ford. A lead investigator in the Bosko murder, Ford was convicted last year of corruption charges in federal court. His conviction was unrelated to the Bosko murder.

Attorneys for the three former sailors argued in court filings that new information on Ford's behavior surfaced during the federal trial, and warranted a new look at the men's cases. The sailors in court appeals have said their guilty confessions were coerced and untrue.

A Norfolk Circuit Court judge wrote in a decision that the appeals were filed too late and denied the petitions in March. The state Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the appeal in August.