Montgomery v Virginia
Johnathan Christopher Montgomery ("Montgomery") petitions this Court to grant a writ of actual innocence based on non-biological evidence pursuant to Code §§ 19.2-327.10 through 19.2-327.14. Montgomery seeks to vacate his 2009 convictions for forcible sodomy, aggravated sexual battery, and animate object sexual penetration.
In support of his petition, Montgomery proffers newly-discovered evidence—the recantation and subsequent perjury conviction of the complaining witness Elizabeth P. Coast ("Coast"). The Commonwealth agrees that Montgomery has satisfied the statutory requirements and joins Montgomery in asking this Court to grant his petition.
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CONCLUSION
We hold that Montgomery has met his burden under Code § 19.2-327.11(A) of establishing that he is actually innocent of the crimes for which he was convicted. Accordingly, pursuant to Code § 19.2-327.13 this Court grants Montgomery's petition and issues a writ of actual innocence based on non-biological evidence, thereby vacating his convictions for forcible sodomy, aggravated sexual battery, and animate object sexual penetration.
If there is no appeal from this judgment to the Supreme Court, the clerk shall forward a copy of this writ to the trial court, where an order of expungement shall be immediately entered regarding these offenses.
This order shall be published.
Johnathan Montgomery’s name taken off Florida sex offender registry
Norfolk, Va. (WTKR) – Just days after receiving his Writ of Actual Innocence from the Court of Appeals of Virginia, Johnathan Montgomery is still fighting to fully clear his name.
On Friday, the court issued the writ, vacating the false sex crimes charges against him.
However, Montgomery remained listed as a registered sex offender online in the states of Florida and North Carolina.
In an e-mail to NewsChannel 3, his father David Montgomery wrote “My fear is that the non-state registries may not be as easy for John’s registration to be wiped out.”
Monday morning, NewsChannel 3′s Todd Corillo contacted the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and within hours the listing had been taken down.
A spokesman told NewsChannel 3 that once they received the Writ of Actual Innocence, Montgomery was removed from the Florida Registry website.
In North Carolina, a Public Information Officer from the Attorney General’s office provided NewsChannel 3 a copy of the “North Carolina Sex Offender & Public Protection Registration Programs” document.
In it, the document outlines that “the period of registration required by any provision of Article 27A shall be discontinued if, and only if, (1) the conviction requiring registration is reversed, vacated, or set aside.”
NewsChannel 3 is still awaiting a response on what more must be done in order to remove Montgomery’s name from the registry in North Carolina.
In an interview Friday, he expressed excitement to be able to move on with his life without the restrictions placed on him.
“To be able to ask my dad to borrow his vehicle and not have to worry about asking 3 or 4 other people and getting papers signed and registering in a state I’ve never been to,” Montgomery said “It’s just a long process to go somewhere where I could say ‘Hey Dad can I borrow the truck’ and I’m gone.” ..Source.. by Todd Corillo
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