Virginia a travesty of wrongful convictions – Part Two. Today is April 8. My name is David Annarelli, contributing writer with the Prison Journalism Project. As I have frequently reported, Virginia has the highest rate of wrongful convictions in the nation, at 20% according to surveys, approximately 4800 human beings held captive unconstitutionally, with no realistic, viable mechanism for relief. Inflaming the already bad situation is the corruption that plagues almost every Commonwealth Attorney office, up to and including the Office of the Attorney General. In fact, the current Attorney General of Virginia, Jason Miyares, is known to have fired the entire staff of the Conviction Integrity Unit, based in his office, as soon as he was voted in. Nothing speaks louder to a person’s character than such an act. Clearly, the current Attorney General supports such corruption in Virginia as a way to justice.
Among those disenfranchised is Mr. Larry B. Capers Jr. and I had the opportunity to speak with him about a story. In 1994,18 years of age, Larry was convicted of robbery, burglary, first degree murder and several gun charges. He received a life sentence, plus 116 years, and for the last 30 years, has maintained his innocence. His conviction was based solely on the forced confession obtained by the brutal Detective, Robert Glen Ford, one of Virginia’s disgraced officers who was exposed, proven guilty of numerous acts; acts of accepting bribes, fraud, false statements, coerced statements and confessions. Larry was among the many victims of this Virginia officer, and he is one of the last still being held captive, even though the state knows without a doubt that he is innocent. The majority of those caught in the web of Detective Ford’s deceit trickery have been granted relief, and this includes Larry’s brother, Kevin, who was pardoned by Governor Northam.
From the start, Larry’s case was a sham, and this is evinced by the prosecutor having dismissed all of the charges after Larry refused a plea for 25 years. One of five suspects, the only one that an indictment was sought for, Larry was released, placed on probation, and less than six months later and with no evidence, Larry was reindicted. He was denied an attorney during two separate interrogations, and maintains he repeatedly requested one, a well known tactic and denial of rights in Virginia and a common occurrence. These sorts of situations are not the exception. They are the example of business as usual in the Virginia judicial system. The story of Jermaine Doss is almost identical and involves the very same crooked Virginia cop, Detective Ford, just like Jermaine, Larry is left languishing in a prison fighting for relief in a case where all the evidence points to his innocence and being set up by a crooked cop, all too complacent, and an all too complacent prosecutor.
Even though Larry was dealt the most heinous injustice, his true character has shown through over 30 years. He’s become an accomplished artist whose murals brighten the walls of several Virginia prisons. He’s also a hero, when on January 20, 2018, Larry saved the life of a correctional officer, Price, at Sussex One Correctional Center, suffering several stab wounds himself in the process, when preventing C.O. Price from being stabbed. He’s also saved two other prisoners, one in 2021 and another 2022, from overdoses. All of these events are on his record. Virginia must address its rate of wrongful convictions. It must also immediately release Mr. Larry B Capers, Jr. My name is David Annarelli, contributing writer to the Prison Journalism Project. davidannarelli.wordpress.com, and I’m on Instagram @david_ annarelli, thank you very much.
These commentaries are recorded by Prison Radio.
