Career
Washington, with an intelligence quotient estimated at 69, confessed to the crime, but apparently only after being coerced by investigators. After a fellow inmate Joseph Giarratano took on his case, citing Washington"s mental disability, deoxyribonucleic acid evidence in 1994 showed that Washington could not have made the seminal stain and raised doubt that he was responsible for the crimes for which he was sentenced. Nine days before his scheduled execution, Virginia"s Governor Jim Gilmore commuted his sentence to life in prison.
In 2000, after more accurate deoxyribonucleic acid testing strengthened the case for his innocence, he received a full pardon from Governor Gilmore.
Washington was represented by attorneys Robert T. Hall, Eric M. Freedman, Gerald Zerkin and Barry A. Weinstein. In 2006, Washington was awarded $2.25 million from the estate of Agent Wilmore who had forced the false confession from Washington.
In 2007, the actual murderer Kenneth Tinsley pled guilty and was sentenced to life in prison. Washington"s case is frequently cited by opponents of the death penalty as an example of a wrongful death sentence.
