Criminal Law
NC Governor Pardons a Man Who Was Freed in 2016
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper pardoned a man on Tuesday who spent nearly 24 years in prison after allegations that he sexually assaulted his 9-year-old daughter, then freed from a life sentence in 2016 after his daughter recanted her testimony.
The pardon in the case of Howard Dudley, now in his 60s, makes him eligible to file a claim for compensation under state laws for people wrongly convicted of felonies, The News & Observer of Raleigh reported.
“I have carefully reviewed Howard Denice Dudley’s case and am granting him a Pardon of Innocence,” Cooper said in a statement. “Mr. Dudley and others who have been wrongly convicted deserve to have that injustice fully and publicly acknowledged.”
