Factual background: In the early morning of October 28, 1985, a woman was raped and sodomized in her apartment by a man who had broken through her front door.

Walter Snyder was convicted of rape, sodomy, and burglary by an Alexandria, Virginia jury on June 25, 1986. The jury recommended a sentence of 45 years, which the judge accepted and ordered Snyder to serve.

Prosecutor's evidence at trial: The prosecution based its case on several points:

· The victim identified Snyder as a person who lived across the street from her.

· The victim identified Snyder in a police station "show-up."

· Police found red shorts in Snyder's house similar to those worn by the assailant.

· Standard blood typing showed Snyder and the assailant were type A secretors.

· Snyder's alibi, that he was at home sleeping during the time of the assault, was corroborated only by his mother.

Postconviction challenges: After Snyder's appeal of his conviction was denied, the Innocence Project agreed to defend him pro bono if his family could pay for any necessary forensic tests. In May 1992 prosecutors agreed to release the necessary evidence to the defense for DNA testing. The defense forwarded the evidence to the Center for Blood Research (CBR) in Boston.

DNA results: On October 28, 1992, CBR issued a report stating that Snyder's DNA did not match the DNA in semen found on a vaginal swab from the original rape kit. The prosecution asked CBR to repeat the test, which it did for free at the Innocence Project's request. CBR replicated its findings, and the prosecution asked the FBI to look at the results. The FBI agreed with the methodology and the results in CBR's report.

Conclusion: Virginia has a 21 day rule for a motion for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence, so the only recourse for Snyder was to seek a pardon from the governor. The Commonwealth's attorney joined the defense in fling a request for a pardon. Two months later, on April 23, 1993, the governor granted an absolute pardon; Snyder was released the same day. After being freed, Snyder petitioned the Alexandria Circuit Court to expunge his record. On January 11, 1994, the court granted his petition. Snyder had served almost seven years of the original sentence.