Legal Commentary

Free the Norfolk Four

By TChris

This 2006 post asked Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine to pardon the Norfolk Four. Four sailors confessed to raping and murdering Michelle Moore-Bosko in Norfolk after they were threatened with the death penalty if they maintained their innocence. The evidence is strong that a different man is telling the truth when he says that he committed the crime alone.

Perhaps Gov. Kaine will do the right thing this year, now that 30 retired FBI agents who reviewed the case have concluded that the servicemen are innocent.

The former agents join a long list of unusual supporters, including four former Virginia attorneys general; 12 former state and federal judges and prosecutors; and a past president of the Virginia Bar Association, who have called for the men to be pardoned.

One sailor has been released from prison but three others are serving life sentences. What are you waiting for, Gov. Kaine? Give them an early Christmas present. Send them home to their families where they belong.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on November 11, 2008 (boomark / email).