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Innocence panel takes up 1988 Catawba rape conviction

Fingerprints on a banana might be the key to Willie James Grime getting his conviction on rape and kidnapping charges reconsidered. Grimes has spent 23 years in prison for the rape of a Hickory woman, which he says he did not commit.

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Willie Grimes
RALEIGH, N.C. — Fingerprints on a banana might be the key to a man getting his life sentence on rape and kidnapping convictions reconsidered.
The North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission is meeting for three days this week to hear new evidence in a case involving an elderly Hickory woman who was raped in her apartment on Oct. 24, 1987.

Willie James Grimes, 65, has served 23 years in prison since being convicted in 1988 of two counts of first-degree rape and one count of second-degree kidnapping.

But Grimes has always maintained his innocence.

Brian Delmas, a fingerprint analyst with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, testified Monday that two fingerprints on a banana found at the 69-year-old victim's apartment matched a man named Albert Lindsay Turner.

Turner, 65, has a long criminal record, with several convictions of assault on a female as well as assault with a deadly weapon and felony breaking and entering. He spent several years in prison and was released in 2008, according to the North Carolina Division of Adult Correction.

The fingerprints were the only physical evidence that the commission could find. Other evidence from the case, including a rape kit and hairs found on the victim's robe and bedspread, could not be found.

Delmas was able to match the prints in December.

"It was my determination that these prints were not made by Willie Grimes," he said. "I have no doubt that (it's Turner) who made both of those prints."

The eight-member Innocence Inquiry Commission – a panel of judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, law enforcement officers and others – reviews claims of innocence from convicted criminals and considers new, credible evidence that might justify a new verdict.

If it determines that Grimes' case merits further review, it will send the case to a special three-judge panel for a hearing.

Also at issue in the case is Grimes' identification.

Turner's photo had been in the initial photo line-up that police showed to the victim on the night of the crime.

The lead police detective in the case described both Grimes and Turner as being similar in height and weight but that Grimes had a noticeable mole on his face.

"I don't think that he was guilty. I think, of all the cases that I've handled, this is the one that haunts me to this day," Grimes' trial attorney, Ed de Torres, told the commission. "I felt fairly confident about the case."

De Torres said that, initially, the victim identified Grimes, but that during trial, she was indecisive about a photo line-up and that, on one occasion in court, pointed to de Torres as being her attacker, even though Grimes was sitting next to him.

There was also several witnesses confirming Grimes' alibi that he was with his girlfriend when the rape occurred around 9 p.m. that night.

Since it was formed five years ago, the Innocence Commission staff has received more than 1,100 innocence claims – more than 950 of which have been closed.

Three people have been cleared of crimes as a result of the commission's work.

Sentenced to life in prison for the 1991 beating death of a Raleigh woman, Greg Taylor was the first. A judicial panel unanimously decided in 2010 that there was clear and convincing evidence to prove he did not commit the crime.

The General Assembly established the Innocence Commission in 2007 to not only examine cases but also to study how wrongful convictions can be avoided. It is the only state agency in the United States dedicated to considering wrongful convictions.

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