ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 9, 1996 TAG: 9602090068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
Edward W. Honaker, pardoned after serving 10 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, may move another step closer today to winning compensation from the General Assembly.
The House Appropriations Committee is to take up a "relief bill" for the Roanoke man this afternoon.
The House Claims Committee approved the bill Wednesday after it had stalled earlier amid questions about the size of the payout.
The $500,000 reimbursement is made up of a $150,000 lump-sum payment and the balance through the state's purchase of a 10-year annuity, said committee Chairman Clifton "Chip" Woodrum, D-Roanoke.
Committee members asked what the state had done wrong in the case and whether the measure would set a precedent.
Woodrum said two claims granted in 1990 have set precedent already. Richmond lawyer Murray Janus, who represents Honaker, said the state's primary wrong was in hypnotizing two witnesses who identified Honaker, then not disclosing that to the defense.
Janus said the compensation is not based strictly on lost wages, inflation and other damages, but was reached in discussion with Woodrum. It also considers intangibles: Honaker missed many of the growing-up years of his three children.
Woodrum said Honaker is a ``modern-day Rip Van Winkle" who didn't have the advantage of sleeping through his 10 lost years.
Honaker was pardoned by Gov. George Allen in 1995 after DNA tests proved he was not guilty of a June 1984 rape in Nelson County.
LENGTH: Short : 41 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Honaker. color. KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1996by CNB