After More Than 11 Years, Justice Still Eludes the Norfolk Four

After spending more than 11 harsh years in prison for a crime they did not commit, Joseph J. Dick, Jr., Derek E. Tice, and Danial J. Williams, became free men Thursday.  Governor Timothy M. Kaine of Virginia granted conditional pardons to the Navy veterans but fell short of granting absolute pardons based on innocence. A fourth innocent sailor, Eric C. Wilson, was released in 2005 after serving 8 ½ years in prison. His clemency request was denied today by Governor Kaine.

“While we are pleased that Governor Kaine has finally taken the necessary action to correct this grave miscarriage of justice, we are very disappointed that he failed to recognize that the Norfolk Four are completely innocent of this crime,” said Shawn Armbrust, Executive Director of Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project (MAIP), a non-profit organization dedicated to correcting and preventing wrongful convictions in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. Two MAIP Board Members, Donald Salzman of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, and Desmond Hogan of Hogan & Hartson, provided pro bono representation to Williams and Tice, respectively.  Dick was represented by George Kendall of Holland & Knight.

“Governor Kaine gave the Norfolk Four their lives back,” said Ms. Armbrust, “but we are saddened for them that these terrible crimes will continue to hang over their heads.”

The four Navy men were wrongfully convicted based on false confessions extracted after they were subjected to high-pressure interrogation tactics, including threats of the death penalty and questionable use of lie detector tests.  The details in the men’s confessions did not match the crime scene, the other confessions, or the confession of the real killer.  False confessions have played a role in approximately 25 percent of all 241 cases nationwide in which convicted defendants have been conclusively exonerated by DNA.

“In this case, as with most false confession cases, the devil is in the details,” said Ms. Armbrust.  “And these details help prove that the Norfolk Four knew absolutely nothing about this crime.”

Because false confessions are such a common cause of wrongful convictions, MAIP advocates for reforms that can reduce the risk of such confessions.  These reforms include legislation mandating the electronic recording of interrogations in their entirety and training for police officers on proper interrogation tactics.

Citing the Norfolk Four case in part, in 2006, the Norfolk Police Department independently adopted the practice of videotaping custodial interrogations.  Five hundred other jurisdictions nationwide have done the same.  Sixteen states currently require the electronic recording of interrogations in some cases.

“This case – and the frequency of false confessions in criminal cases – shows that common sense reforms like the videotaping of interrogations are needed to protect the innocent and our communities,” said Ms. Armbrust. 

All of the DNA and forensic evidence in the Norfolk Four case pointed to one man, Omar Ballard, and only his confession matched the physical evidence. Ballard is now serving a life sentence for the crime.

"While we are glad that Joe, Derek and Danial will finally be coming home to their families," Hogan said. "We are gravely disappointed that Governor Kaine has disregarded the overwhelming of innocence, which proves only one man was responsible for this tragic crime."

With Tice, Dick and Williams on their way home, their family are taken immediate steps to help them reintegrate into their communities. The men will soon meet with social workers and job counselors to help them make the adjustment. 

"Though we are overjoyed to finally have our sons back, we are saddened that Governor Kaine failed to recognize their actual innocence," said Larry Tice. "Our sons lost more than a decade of their lives. We must make sure that a tragedy like this one never strikes another family. We are looking forward to spending time with our sons and will continue to work to prove their innocence so this tragic mistake can finally be corrected."

Armbrust hopes this case has demonstrated the need for legislation that changes the way evidence is collected.

 “Now is the time to take stock of the policies and procedures that contribute to wrongful convictions and enact reforms to ensure that only reliable evidence makes it into the courtroom,” said Ms. Armbrust. “We must work to ensure that no other innocent people suffer as the Norfolk Four did.”

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This entry was posted on Friday, August 7th, 2009 at 9:50 am and is filed under Cases, MAIP News, blog, exonerations, homepage. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.