Twenty-eight years after he was convicted of a pair of rapes he did not commit, Arthur Lee Whitfield continues to wait. He waited in prison for twenty-two years before DNA proved his innocence and he was freed on parole. He had to wait nearly five more years until last April, when VA Gov. Tim Kaine granted him a pardon. Now a free and exonerated man, Whitfield is still waiting for the compensation that will allow him to get his life on track.

In the time since he was released, Whitfield has struggled to get by. His job does not provide enough money for him to pay his car and utilities bills. Since his car was impounded, he has had to rely on his father to drive him to work every day. His gas and water have been shut off. Despite his struggles, Whitfield has been completely unable to receive any compensation from the state that has now admitted to wrongfully convicting him, even the $15,000 transition assistance grant given to exonerated convicts trying to restart their life after being wrongfully convicted.

The Virginia Supreme Court announced July 22 that he was ineligible for the assistance because he had already been released from prison for a number of years before his pardon. 

It is now up to the General Assembly to help Whitfield get back on his feet. State Senators Ralph Northam and Kenneth Stolle, both from Whitfield's hometown of Norfolk are both planning on supporting a restitution bill for Whitfield. That bill would calculate an appropriate number to compensate Whitfield and would likely be paid out in annual payments.

However, the General Assembly is out of session until the winter. So Whitfield will likely be forced to continue doing what he has done for most of the past three decades. He will wait.  

The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project continues to support Arthur Whitfield's attempt to receive the compensation he deserves. We urge the Virginia General Assembly to act quickly to pass legislation as soon as it comes back in session.   

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