Case called ripe for review

Dudley conviction cited by expert

Backers of a proposed commission that would review North Carolina inmates' claims of innocence said Wednesday that the case of Howard Dudley shows the value of such a group. Dudley, a Johnston Correctional Institution inmate from Kinston, was the subject of a series this week in The News & Observer. He was convicted in 1992 of sexually assaulting his daughter, then 9. He has maintained his innocence from the beginning. There was no physical evidence against him, and his daughter recanted her testimony six years ago. He has exhausted his routes of appeal. "If you ever saw a reason for the new commission, this case is one," said Rich Rosen, a UNC-Chapel Hill law professor. "Once a jury determines guilt, no one takes a look at it."

The N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission is the brainchild of a group convened by state Supreme Court Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr. to prevent wrongful convictions. The General Assembly is considering creating the body, which would make recommendations to a three-judge panel that could free inmates. Rosen said the Dudley case has the hallmarks of a strong innocence claim: Dudley turned down a plea deal; there was no corroborating evidence or physical evidence.

Amy Moore, Dudley's now 22-year-old daughter, has asked Gov. Mike Easley to free her father. That is a slim hope: Easley has granted relief in two non-death penalty cases in his four years in office. Both cases involved men exonerated through DNA testing.

Chris Mumma, executive director of the chief justice's group, said Dudley might not get another hearing, even if the legislature creates the new body. Mumma noted that a judge heard Dudley's claim of innocence in 2000 and denied him a new trial. The innocence commission proposal, as now written, would not touch such cases unless there were newly discovered evidence.

The Lenoir County prosecutor who argued in 2000 that Dudley should remain in prison, Imelda Pate, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. In a recent interview, she said she could not recall the details of the case.

Rosen thinks that current legal procedures are inadequate. "A judge walks into a courtroom, knows nothing about the case, reads a document and hears one or two witnesses, and then has to decide whether to overturn a jury verdict," Rosen said. "This was one of maybe a dozen things the judge did that day."

Tye Hunter, another member of the chief justice's group, pointed out that the judge cited Moore's apparent lack of remorse on the stand in his decision. "This young woman is very depressed," said Hunter, the director of Indigent Defense Services. "Her lack of affect and remorse can be attributed to depression." Moore mailed a handwritten plea to Easley's office asking that her father be released from prison. Easley declined an interview request Wednesday, as did members of his staff. His spokeswoman, Cari Boyce, said in e-mail that the governor reviews every case. There is a backlog of about 250 clemency requests in Easley's office.

Thomas Earl Parker of Burlington has been waiting two years for Easley to act on his pardon request. Parker was convicted in 2000 of an armed robbery in Goldsboro. After a two-day hearing, U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle ruled in 2002 that Parker was innocent. Many alibi witnesses testified that Parker was in Alabama on the day of the robbery, applying for a job at a Burger King. Parker applied for a pardon in March 2003.

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