The Virginia legislature has agreed to pay $1.5 million in compensation to a man who served 23 years in prison for a sexual abuse crime that the state now says he did not commit, officials said.
Michael Haas, convicted of sexual abuse in 1994, was freed in 2017 after his sons, whose initial testimony resulted in the conviction, later recanted their statements. The sons, who are now adults, claimed they were influenced by a sexual abuse counselor, according to WAVY.
Attorney General Jason Miyares and former Attorney General Mark Herring granted a writ of actual innocence in 2022, and the Virginia General Assembly will grant Haas $1,530,653 in compensation following the passage of SB 928 and HB 1463.
"I spent over 23 years in prison for a crime that never happened," Haas said during a House committee hearing. "From the very first accusations and all throughout my case I proclaimed my innocence."
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The legislation also provides Hass free tuition within the Virginia Community College system.
During the committee hearing, Del. Terry Austin, a Republican representing the Covington area, personally apologized to Haas on behalf of the Commonwealth.
"Mr. Haas we apologize, and we know this had to be traumatic and difficult for your life, and I just want to personally tell you, the Commonwealth’s sorry," he said.
Haas’ home troubles began in 1993 when he and his wife, Elaine, separated in Dec. of that year. They also began seeing family therapist Susan Boyles around that time.
In Feb. 1994, Michael filed a petition seeking visitation rights. Days later, Boyles met with the boys, then 11 and 9, and told Elaine that her husband had sexually violated them, according to The National Registry of Exonerations, which is a project under the University of California Irvine Newkirk Center for Science & Society and the University of Michigan Law School and Michigan State University College Of Law.
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Elaine Haas then called the police and Detective Gregory Neal of the Powhatan County Sheriff’s Department arrested the husband. He was charged with forcible sodomy.
Haas denied any wrongdoing and urged Neal to have a physician examine the boys. The detective complied and physicians at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond found no abuse, according to The National Registry of Exonerations.
The older boy testified before Judge Thomas Warren of Powhatan County Circuit Court in July of that same year that their father did sexually abuse him and his younger brother.
The younger brother seemed to corroborate the testimony, but gave an inconsistent account of the number of times the alleged abuse occurred, when the alleged incidents took place and when the alleged abuse ultimately ended.
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Neal testified at the trial, saying the younger boy disclosed the abuse, although Neal had to "ask [for] most of the information." Boyles did not testify, per the report.
Several doctors testified at the trial, who gave a mixed analysis of photographs of the alleged abuse.
Haas maintained his innocence but was ultimately convicted and sentenced to two sentences of life in prison.
He then began a series of appeals.
In 2003, after the sons recanted their testimony, Judge Richard Williams still rejected the overturning of the conviction, citing the photographic evidence.
In Oct. of that year, Williams said Haas failed to offer "any credible explanation for the physical evidence," according to The National Registry of Exonerations.
In May 2010, Haas filed a writ of innocence, including the recantations of all three children.
Seven years later, he was released from prison. In 2020, the Virginia State Legislature changed language in state law, allowing judges to consider "preponderance of the evidence" rather than the existing "clear and convincing evidence" language for petitions for writs of actual innocence.
Haas filed again in 2021, and his attorneys argued the requirements have all been met to dissolve their client of the conviction.
"As a result of the new scientific evidence set forth in this Petition, no evidence remains establishing that any crime occurred: there is no medical evidence that the Haas sons had been sexually abused, let alone by their father, and the alleged victims—now men in their thirties—affirm that they were not sexually abused by their father. Both the new medical evidence and the new scientific evidence regarding child interview techniques support the reliability of the Haas sons’ recantations," they said, per The National Registry of Exonerations.
On April 19, 2022, the court granted Haas a writ of actual innocence.
"This has been a 28-year journey, but I am thankful that truth and justice prevailed," Haas said at the time, per the report.
