“My staff and I have carefully and thoroughly reviewed the documentation in this case and concluded that a pardon is appropriate in light of the overwhelming evidence, including a recent confession by another individual, pointing to Mr. McAlister’s actual innocence of the crime for which he was convicted,” McAuliffe said in a written statement.McAlister will be released from prison. He was convicted of the February 1986 abduction and attempted rape of a woman who was dragged at knifepoint from an apartment complex laundry room in Richmond. The woman identified McAlister as the attacker from a photo lineup that did not include a picture of a serial rapist, Norman Bruce Derr, who was active in the area at the time. Derr, who is serving three life terms in prison, is the man who confessed to the crime for which McAlister was convicted. McAlister missed simple pleasures while he was locked up. But now his family will offer a reward. “So we’ve got some nice, thick pork chops to put on the grill and we will let him take it from there,” they said.
