Citing DNA test, prisoner asks Va. high court to clear him in 1984 rape
A convict armed with state DNA test results has asked the Virginia Supreme Court to clear him of a 25-year-old rape now believed to have been committed by a notorious serial rapist.
Testing of sperm taken from the scene of the Jan. 3, 1984, crime in Richmond failed to find Thomas E. Haynesworth's genetic profile, but identified that of Leon W. Davis.
Davis, known as the "Black Ninja" rapist, terrorized the Richmond area with attacks on women in 1984.
According to the petition, the probability that the DNA belonged to someone other than Davis is greater than 1 in 6.5 billion -- roughly the world's population.
"In sum, DNA testing has scientifically eliminated me as the source of the sperm deposited by the perpetrator and has pointed to Leon Davis. . . . Such evidence without question overcomes the only evidence against me: a weak identification by the victim," the petition says.
If approved, it would be the first writ of actual innocence granted by the justices since the procedure was made available in 2001.
Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney Michael N. Herring is supporting Haynesworth's request, according to a letter he wrote that was filed with the petition.
Approval, however, would not free Haynesworth, who is also being held for convictions that include a Jan. 30, 1984, rape in Henrico County. Though Haynesworth believes Davis was responsible for that attack, too, it appears no biological evidence remains for testing.
Shawn Armbrust, of the Mid Atlantic Innocence Project, said the group is investigating other old convictions. Authorities in Henrico and Richmond have also said they are investigating the old cases.
The recent DNA testing was performed as part of the Virginia Department of Forensic Science's post-conviction project aimed at clearing people who may have been wrongly convicted from 1973 through 1988, before forensic DNA testing was widely available.
Much of the material being tested -- and that was tested in this case -- was collected and saved in the old files of a former state forensic serologist Mary Jane Burton, who has since died.
Haynesworth and Davis are close in age, share the same blood type, once knew and resembled each other, and lived in the same East End neighborhood at the start of 1984.
In December 1984, police warned area women that a man who sometimes called himself the "Black Ninja" was suspected of attacking 12 women in Richmond and Henrico starting that April. Haynesworth was arrested in February and convicted later that year.
Davis, 45, serving seven life terms for rape, robbery and other convictions, has refused to comment in recent months.
The victim in the Jan. 3, 1984, rape picked Haynesworth's photo out of a spread of suspect photos. She identified him as her attacker during the trial but said she could not describe her attacker's facial features.
"Both my mother and I testified that I was at home asleep at the time of the crime," says Haynesworth in the petition.
The petition, signed by Haynesworth on April 30, was filed Friday. It is unclear when the justices might act on the petition.
Armbrust said the Virginia Attorney General's office is cooperating and has promised to respond as quickly as possible to the petition.
Contact Frank Green at (804) 649-6340 or fgreen@timesdispatch.com.
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