2/15/2019
Thomas Haynesworth - National Registry of Exonerations
A PROJECT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE NEWKIRK CENTER FOR SCIENCE & SOCIETY,
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN LAW SCHOOL & MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW
‘The Natic cei ! Registry
EXONERATIONS
THOMAS HAYNESWORTH
Other Virginia DNA Exonerations
From January 3 to February 1, 1984, five
women were the victims of sexual assaults
or attempted sexual assaults in an area
known as East Richmond, which overlaps
the city of Richmond, Virginia and Henrico
County.
On January 3, a 20-year-old woman was
raped at knifepoint in a day-care center
where she worked in Richmond.
On January 21, an 18-year-old woman
was sodomized at knifepoint near an East
Richmond grocery store.
‘Thomas Haynesworth
On January 27, a man with a knife
approached a woman outside her home and demanded money and sex
When the woman went inside the home, she slammed the door shut and
locked it, then called police as the attacker fled.
On January 30, an 18-year-old woman was abducted, raped and
sodomized at gunpoint in Henrico County, a few blocks from the other
attacks,
On February 1, a 19-year-old woman was abducted at gunpoint outside
her home in East Richmond, The gunman forced her to go inside the
house, but then fled when the family dog began barking.
Because of the locations of the attacks, description of the attacker and
the nature of the assaults, police concluded that one person was
responsible.
On February 5, 1985, Thomas Haynesworth, 18, was arrested after the
victim of the January 27 attempted robbery saw him walking near a
market and told police he was her attacker.
All five victims selected Haynesworth’s photograph when shown photo
line-ups.
Haynesworth was tried on four of the crimes in separate trials. The fifth
case was dismissed.
On July 12, 1984, he was convicted of the January 3 rape after the
woman identified Haynesworth in court. He was sentenced to 10 years in
prison.
He was convicted on August 10, 1984, of the January 30 attack. At trial,
the victim identified him and the biological evidence was the same blood
type as Haynesworth’s. He was sentenced to 36 years in prison after
being convicted of rape, sodomy, abduction with intent to defile and
using a firearm in the commission of a crime.
On August 24, 1984, he was acquitted by a jury of the January 21
assault.
He was convicted on October 11, 1984 of the February 1 abduction—
again based on the victim’s of him—and was to
28 years in prison.
https:/
.Jaw.umich aspx?caseid=3872
CURRENTLY 2,382 EXONERATIONS
MORE THAN 20,915 YEARS LOST
State: Virginia
County: Richmond City
Most Serious Sexual Assault
Crime:
Additional —_ Kidnapping, Attempt,
Convictions: Violent, Gun Possession or
Sale
Reported 1984
Crime Date:
Convicted: 1984
Exonerated: 2011
Sentence: 74 years
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Ageatthe 18
date of
crime:
Contributing
Factors:
contrib
the
exoneration?:
Mistaken Witness ID
ute to
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2/15/2019 Thomas Haynesworth - National Registry of Exonerations
Although Haynesworth was in custody, rapes continued in the same
neighborhood. At least 10 women reported being attacked by a young
African American man, who in some of the crimes referred to himself as
“Black Ninja.”
Assaults were reported in March and August as well as two assaults in
October, three in November and three in December.
On December 19, 1984, police arrested Leon Davis and charged him with
a dozen rapes that occurred in the last nine months of 1984. He was
convicted ultimately and sentenced to multiple terms of life in prison.
In 2005, then-Governor Mark Warner ordered testing of biological
evidence from 1973 through 1988 that was discovered in the files of
deceased crime lab analyst Mary Jane Burton. By that time, several
other convicted had been exonerated by DNA
testing on evidence found in Burton's files. These included Marvin
Anderson, Julius Ruffin, Arthur Lee Whitfield, Willie Davidson and
Philip Thurman.
The biological evidence of in the January 3 rape case for which
Haynesworth was convicted was located and submitted for DNA testing
Haynesworth was excluded and matched the DNA of Davis. On
September 18, 2009, the Supreme Court of Virginia issued a writ of
actual innocence for the January 3, 1984 rape.
Haynesworth enlisted the assistance of The Innocence Project and the
Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project and requested a review of his other
convictions. DNA testing was performed on the case in which
Haynesworth was acquitted and the results were similar—Haynesworth
was excluded and the DNA matched Davis
No physical evidence could be located in Haynesworth’s other
convictions. After Haynesworth passed two separate polygraph
examinations, authorities concluded that Haynesworth was innocent of
those as well.
Upon the joint motion of the prosecution and Haynesworth’s lawyers, the
convictions were vacated and the charges were dismissed. Haynesworth
was released from prison on March 15, 2011
Prosecutors from the two jurisdictions where the crimes occurred, as well
as the attorney general for the commonwealth, Kenneth Cuccinelli,
joined with the defense in asking the Court of Appeals of Virginia to
grant a writ of innocence in the remaining cases. By then, Haynesworth
had been hired to work in Cuccinelli’s office.
Despite the unanimous agreement of the prosecutors and attorney
general, the Court of Appeals, in July, asked for further briefing.
On December 6, 2011, the full Court of Appeals granted writs of
Inneeeries in Bath cases: Faur appeals judges dleserited, eantendiig tat
sufficient evid: victims’ th—stil
existed that could ms ina Esnvlctlon They conettued the state law
regarding writs of innocence was very narrow and did not allow writs to
be granted in such cases.
Appeals Judge Larry Elder wrote, “Haynesworth has not provided any
evidence that either victim now believes her identification was
inaccurate...Although this may seem to be a compelling case requiring us
to correct an injustice, unless and until the legislature gives us the tools
to correct such perceived errors...we are powerless to act.”
In April 2012, Governor Bob McDonnell signed legislation providing
$1,075,178 in compensation.
By the end of 2013, five more defendants had been exonerated by DNA
testing of biological evidence in Burton's files: Curtis Moore, Victor
Burnette, Calvin Wayne Cunningham, Bennett Barbour and Garry
Diamond
In 2018, Roy Watford Ill became the 12th person to be exonerated by
DNA testing of evidence in Burton’s files.
~ Maurice Possley
Report an error or add more information about this case.
https://www.law.umich aspx?caseid=3872
2/15/2019
Posting Date: Before June 2012
Last Updated: 3/8/2018
ABOUT THE REGISTRY
The National Registry of Exonerations is a project of the
Newkirk Center for Science & Society at University of
California Irvine, the University of Michigan Law School and
Michigan State University College of Law. It was founded in
2012 in conjunction with the Center on Wrongful Convictions
at Northwestern University School of Law, The Registry
provides detailed information about every known exoneration
in the United States since 1989—cases in which a person was
wrongly convicted of a crime and later cleared of all the
charges based on new evidence of innocence. The Registry
also maintains a more limited database of known exonerations
prior to 1989,
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Thomas Haynesworth - National Registry of Exonerations
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