The release of two Virginia men who were exon­er­at­ed after the state con­duct­ed new DNA test­ing on evi­dence from 31 cas­es has prompt­ed Governor Mark Warner (pic­tured) to call for a more sweep­ing review of the state’s stored bio­log­i­cal evi­dence. Warner has ordered 660 box­es con­tain­ing thou­sands of files from 1973 through 1988 to be exam­ined for cas­es that can be retest­ed using the lat­est DNA tech­nol­o­gy.

​“I believe a look back at these retained case files is the only moral­ly accept­able course, and what truth they can bring only bol­sters con­fi­dence in our sys­tem,” Warner said. Virginia’s review marks one of the first instances in which a gov­er­nor has ordered a broad exam­i­na­tion of DNA cas­es. Virginia, which has exe­cut­ed more peo­ple than any state except Texas since cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment was rein­stat­ed in 1976, has had the accu­ra­cy of its jus­tice sys­tem called into ques­tion after sev­er­al high-pro­file inno­cence cas­es.

​“This is a 7 per­cent inno­cence rate — among peo­ple who nev­er even asked for test­ing — that should give pause to peo­ple who think mis­takes in our crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem are flukes. This should be a bea­con for oth­er gov­er­nors across the coun­try to imple­ment post-con­vic­tion DNA test­ing,” said Peter Neufeld, co-direc­tor of the New York-base Innocence Project.

(The Washington Post, December 15, 2005). See Innocence.

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