Local News

Innocence panel refers 1987 Hickory rape case for judicial review

The North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission on Wednesday found that there is sufficient evidence to merit a judicial review of the innocence claim of Willie J. Grimes, a 65-year-old Hickory man serving life in prison for the 1987 rape of an elderly woman.

Posted Updated
Willie Grimes
RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission on Wednesday unanimously found that there is sufficient evidence to merit a judicial review of the innocence claim of Willie J. Grimes, a Hickory man serving life in prison for the 1987 rape of an elderly woman.

The case will be sent to a special three-judge panel to decide whether Grimes' conviction should be overturned.

"I had a lot of confidence that they were going to come out with this ruling because of the great work the commission staff did," Grimes' attorney, Christine Mumma, said. "I was pleased that it was unanimous. I think it sends a strong message. It was great to call Willie and tell him he's moving on to the next step."

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 in the Oct. 24, 1987, crime.

He has said he was with friends when the crime happened. Prosecutors won their conviction, based partly on a single hair that was "microscopically consistent" with Grimes’ hair.

The eight-member panel of judges, attorneys, law enforcement officers and others spent three days hearing new evidence in the case – primarily that fingerprints found on a banana in the victim's home belonged to another man – Albert Lindsay Turner, who is 65 years old and lives in a nursing home in Lenoir.

Jamie Lau, a staff attorney with the Innocence Commission, testified Wednesday that Turner denied any involvement in the crime but that his story was inconsistent with what other witnesses in the case testified during Grimes' trial and before the Innocence Commission this week.

For example, Turner told investigators that he knew Grimes and was with him when Grimes was arrested.

But Grimes testified Tuesday that he met Turner only once, a month prior to the crime, at the home of a mutual friend. That friend lived two apartments away from the 69-year-old victim, who is now deceased.

Grimes and his trial attorney testified that police arrested Grimes when he went to the Hickory police department to find out why they were looking for him.

Another inconsistency had to do with whether Turner knew the victim.

Turner told investigators that he had been in her apartment on several occasions with his girlfriend. The victim's neighbor, as well as her family, however, told the Innocence Commission that the victim never let men who weren't relatives into her apartment.

When Lau told Turner that his fingerprints were on the banana, Turner said his girlfriend would often bring fruit for the victim when they visited.

Several people told Innocence Commission investigators that Turner was a violent man – one woman described him as a bully – with a long criminal history that included assault on a female.

Sharon Stellato, associate director of the Innocence Commission, said seven other people who knew both Grimes and Turner were also interviewed by the commission staff.

"Everyone who spoke about Mr. Grimes stated he was a nice and quiet guy," she said.

At least eight people testified at trial in support of Grimes' alibi that he was with friends and was a 20- to 30-minute walk – Grimes did not have a car – from the victim's apartment.

Turner, investigators said, lived in the same public housing development as the victim and was just a short walk away from her home.

In regard to the hair that helped convict Grimes, experts testified that they couldn't say for certain that it matched Grimes' hair. DNA analysis, rare in 1987, is the only way to prove identity.

But the hair cannot be tested again. All of the physical evidence, with the exception of the fingerprints on the banana, was inexplicably destroyed several years after the trial.

That's been a hurdle for Grimes and his attorneys for many years, Mumma said, and could still be a challenge.

"There's still more work we can do," Mumma said. "We'll get all the great information the commission staff has, and we're going to have to build upon that before we get to the three-judge panel."

A date for that hearing has not been set. The chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court will appoint the panel judges, who will set a date for the hearing.

 Credits 

Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.