Joseph Dick, Derek Tice, Danial Williams, and Eric Wilson, four innocent Navy veterans known as the ‘Norfolk Four,’ today received long-awaited full pardons based on their actual innocence from Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe. The Norfolk Four were wrongfully convicted of rape and murder in 1997; their case involved troubling issues of police misconduct, false confessions, and unconstitutionally suppressed evidence.
"I speak for all four of us in expressing our deepest thanks to Governor McAuliffe, who has given us our lives back with these full pardons. We have been haunted by these wrongful convictions for twenty years, which have created profound pain, hardships, and stress for each of us and our families. We now look forward to rebuilding our reputations and our lives,” said Eric Wilson.
In August 2009, then-Governor Timothy Kaine granted conditional pardons to three of the Norfolk Four, which allowed their release, but kept their wrongful convictions in place. Mr. Wilson had already been released but was unable to have his innocence claims heard by any court due to procedural issues. Today's pardon was Mr. Wilson's only avenue of relief from his wrongful conviction.
The Norfolk Four were wrongfully convicted for the 1997 rape and murder of Michelle Moore-Bosko based largely on wildly inconsistent and uncorroborated false confessions each made to the police after lengthy, high-pressured interrogations. All four sailors had no criminal record and were honorably serving their country in the Navy when this terrible crime occurred; no DNA or physical evidence of any kind tied them to the crime.
“Today's pardons are an important step towards the complete closure and restoration these four innocent veterans deserve," said Stephen Northup, attorney for Mr. Wilson and retired partner from Troutman Sanders. Former Virginia Attorney General Anthony Troy of Eckert Seamans law firm is co-counsel to Mr. Wilson.
"The Norfolk Four and their families have lost twenty years of their lives because of the systemic failure of the Norfolk police department to seek justice and truth in this case,” said George Kendall, attorney for Joseph Dick and Of Counsel at Squire Patton Boggs, LLP. “It's not enough to legally right this specific wrong; now the Commonwealth must turn its attention to preventing future miscarriages of justice by conducting a comprehensive and objective investigation into how these prosecutions went awry," Mr. Kendall said.
Crime scene and forensic evidence overwhelmingly showed that only one person committed the crime. That person, Omar Ballard, repeatedly said that he committed the crime alone, and is serving a double-life sentence for the rape and murder. Only Mr. Ballard's DNA was recovered from the crime scene and autopsy, and only Mr. Ballard's confession matches the physical evidence in every respect. Mr. Ballard previously admitted that had been involved in a 3-week crime spree against women in the same neighborhood when he killed Ms. Bosko.
Newly uncovered evidence by the Norfolk Four reveals that, at the time the Norfolk Four were being pursued, Norfolk Police Department detectives had additional information strongly suggesting that Mr. Ballard had committed another rape at the same apartment complex within the preceding two weeks.
Threatened with the death penalty and fearing for their lives, the Navy men eventually succumbed to high-pressure interrogation tactics during the initial investigation. The lead homicide detective on the cases, Glenn Ford, who had previously been disciplined for obtaining false confessions and extracted the false confessions from each of the Norfolk Four, was convicted in 2010 of crimes that involved lying to judges and prosecutors, further undermining his credibility. He is currently serving a 12-year federal prison sentence.
On September 26, 2016, Judge John Gibney of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia issued an opinion based on his comprehensive review of the evidence and a two-day evidentiary hearing of claims brought by Mr. Dick and Mr. Williams, stating: "By any measure, the evidence shows the defendants' innocence – by a preponderance of the evidence, by clear and convincing evidence, by evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, or even by conclusive evidence,” (p. 5) and that “no sane human being could find them guilty.” (p. 6) http://bit.ly/2cY2Xyh
On October 31, 2016, Judge Gibney vacated the convictions of Mr. Dick and Mr. Williams after the Virginia Attorney General’s Office finally conceded error in the case. On December 14, 2016, the Commonwealth announced it would no longer pursue prosecutions against Mr. Dick and Mr. Williams. Derek Tice’s grant of habeas relief was affirmed by the Fourth Circuit in April 2011, and the Commonwealth subsequently dismissed all charges against Mr. Tice.
Over the past decade, a distinguished, bipartisan group of Virginians has supported clemency for the Norfolk Four including: 10 former Attorneys General of the Commonwealth of Virginia; more than two dozen former FBI Special Agents; a past president of the Virginia Bar Association; prominent state and federal law enforcement officers; former judges and prosecutors from around the country; and 13 jurors in two of the underlying criminal cases.
“We are thrilled that Governor McAuliffe finally acted to right this nearly 20 year-old injustice,” said Desmond Hogan, attorney for Derek Tice and partner at Hogan Lovells. “We look forward to working cooperatively with authorities in Virginia to ensure wrongful convictions like this do not happen in the future.”
"Today is such a wonderful day for these men, but it is truly a shame that they have had to fight so hard for so long to be fully pardoned. I hope the Commonwealth will continue to do everything in its power to right this wrong on behalf of these innocent veterans," said Donald Salzman, attorney for Danial Williams and pro bono counsel at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
Photos of the four Navy men can be accessed here (Source: families of each of the men have given permission to use):
Joseph Dick: http://bit.ly/2ezNJ4g
Danial Williams: http://bit.ly/2dPzC75
Eric Wilson: http://bit.ly/2fbh6Mg
Derek Tice: http://bit.ly/2eKsEVk
To speak with attorneys for the Norfolk Four, please contact: Laura.Burstein@Squirepb.com 202-626-6868 (o); 202-669-3411(c). @LauraBurstein1
