| First Name | Victor |
| Last Name | Burnette |
| Year of Conviction | 1979 |
| Year of Exoneration | 2009 |
| State of Conviction | Virginia |
| Trial, Bench Trial, or Guilty Plea | Trial |
| Type of Crime | Rape |
| Death Sentence | No |
| Gender of Exoneree | Male |
| Race of exoneree | White |
| Juvenile | No |
| Type of Innocence Defense |
|
| Description / Quotes from Testimony Concerning Defense | ● Defendant’s grandmother testified about his whereabouts the day of the crime; he lived at her house. |
| Did the defendant testify at trial? | Yes |
| Quotes from Exoneree Testimony | He testified about his whereabouts the day of the crime and denied committed the crime, stating “No, sir” and that he never knew that a woman lived in the boarding house where the crime took place. |
| Types of evidence at trial |
|
| Type of Forensic Evidence |
|
| Types of Flawed Forensics |
|
| Reason why invalid | (1) Masking |
| Brief Quote / Description of Testimony | The analyst testified that one of the hairs was “consistent” with the defendant and “could have” come from him. The analyst also observed blood group substances entirely consistent with the victim, yet claimed that as a non-secretor, the defendant was “any one of 88 percent” of the population that could have been a contributor. |
| Identity of eyewitness |
|
| Lineup Procedures |
|
| Suggestive Procedures | No ● Show-up – but conducted shortly after the incident |
| Unreliable Identification? | No ● Discrepancies in description – facial hair and glasses |
| Quotes from testimony #2 | Described attacker as “About five eight, 160 pounds, long blond hair, blue jeans, mustache, beard.” Victim testified, however, that attacker had “curly” hair and she was “unclear” on whether he had a beard or not. Defendant wore glasses, without which he could not see well due to eye injury. He wore a beard and did not have curly hair. Defendant was 5’8” but weighed only 140 pounds. |
| Highest level reached | NR |