Man Wrongfully Convicted Of Attempted Rape Is Exonerated

 

Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Wednesday pardoned a Virginia man who has spent 29 years in prison for an attempted rape that authorities now say he did not commit.

Michael Kenneth McAlister, 58, was exonerated just five days ahead of a hearing that could have led to his indefinite confinement as a violent sex offender under the state's civil commitment law.                  

"My staff and I have carefully and thoroughly reviewed the documentation in this case and concluded that a pardon is appropriate in light of the overwhelming evidence, including a recent confession by another individual, pointing to Mr. McAlister's actual innocence of the crime for which he was convicted," McAuliffe said in a written statement.

McAlister's sister, Denise Haas, said the family was ecstatic.

"We are just floating on cloud nine," she said in a telephone interview. "We've been living 29-plus years in a nightmare that nobody would believe, and now it's over. My brother's going to be free and be able to be with the family and catch up on all these years we've missed."

McAlister was convicted of the February 1986, abduction and attempted rape of a woman who was dragged at knifepoint from an apartment complex laundry room in Richmond. The victim identified McAlister as the attacker from a photo lineup that did not include a picture of a serial rapist, Norman Bruce Derr, who lived nearby and bore a strong resemblance to McAlister.

The governor did not identify the man who confessed, but spokesman Brian Coy confirmed that it was Derr, who is now serving three life terms in prison.

Virginia prisons spokeswoman Lisa Kinney was unable to say how soon McAlister will be released from prison. An Associated Press request for a telephone interview with McAlister was pending.