In September of this year, the Virginia Supreme Court agreed to review the decision of the Virginia Court of Appeals in the case of Aleck Carpitcher, a man who was wrongfully convicted in 1999 of sexually assaulting a then nine-year-old girl. Mr. Carpitcher is currently serving 38 years of a 73-year sentence. The nine-year-old, who was the daughter of Mr. Carpitcher’s girlfriend, was the only witness against Mr. Carpitcher. She recanted her testimony nine months after he was convicted, but Mr. Carpticher could not present the evidence because of Virginia’s 21-day rule, which provided that convicted defendants had only 21…