Norfolk Four Unconditionally Pardoned

Gov. McAuliffe has finally issued full, unconditional pardons for the 'Norfolk Four,' four men coerced, threatened, tricked, etc., into confessing, one by one, into raping and murdering a woman they'd never met. The ridiculous police behaviour in the case, including stuff like adding new theoretical offenders every time the person they'd decided was the offender came back as a DNA mismatch, telling the men specifics of the crime and scene when they kept getting details wrong in their confessions (because they didn't do it, had never been in the apartment in which it happened, etc.), was not only pervasive among multiple detectives, but across years.

The actual perpetrator, btw, confessed in the middle of the cops rounding up the four, was a DNA match, had the details all correct and said he acted alone and had never met any of the other men. The cops, not wanting to let go of the suspect they had and the story they'd put together, decided the four had met the actual offender in the parking lot of the victim's building and casually mentioned they wanted to go commit a gang rape and murder but couldn't get past the buzzers, so he helped them in order to join them. That was an actual theory the cops decided on.

The Four have been out for some time, had conditional pardons, sentences vacated, but were still, as of a bit ago at least, required to be registered as sex offenders. Hopefully they can get that taken care of. It's very reminiscent of the Central Park Five.

The case is kind of amazing. There's been at least one tv documentary, on Frontline or something, that's worth watching.