The governor s office said this pardon of innocence was Cooper s sixth since taking office in early 2017.
Howard was convicted in Durham County court in 1995 for the 1991 deaths of 29-year-old Doris Washington and her 13-year-old daughter, Nishonda. He was serving an 80-year prison sentence for convictions on two counts of second-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson.
The mother and daughter also appeared to have been sexually assaulted. Years after the conviction, Howard s attorneys tested rape kits related to the case and uncovered new evidence, according to Cooper s pardon. In 2014, Judge Orlando Hudson threw out Howard’s sentence, saying the prosecutor had failed to share with defense attorneys a police memo and other evidence that pointed to suspects other than Howard.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper granted a pardon of innocence Friday to a man imprisoned for two decades before his two murder convictions were vacated more than four years ago by a trial judge.
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