A Roanoke County man convicted of molesting an 11-year-old girl, who later said she made up her testimony against him, is asking Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to set him free.

Aleck J. Carpitcher's petition for clemency was delivered to the governor's office yesterday, one of his lawyers said, and comes 17 months after the Supreme Court of Virginia refused to reverse his conviction.

Carpitcher, 51, was convicted in 1999 and is serving a 38-year prison sentence.

"Mr. Carpitcher's continued incarceration shows a clear breakdown in the proper operation of the criminal justice system," the 24-page petition states. "There is no longer any evidence supporting Mr. Carpitcher's conviction, and a large amount of evidence supports his innocence, and yet Mr. Carpitcher remains behind bars."

A Roanoke County jury convicted Carpitcher of five sex crimes after hearing a single witness: His girlfriend's daughter testified that he had fondled her. Within a year of the trial she recanted, saying she had made up the story because she was jealous of his relationship with her mother.

But a judge later ruled the daughter had been coerced or persuaded to recant, concluding that she is "no longer credible" as a witness.

At the time of her recantation, state law prevented Carpitcher from presenting it as new evidence because any such evidence had to be presented within 21 days of sentencing. In 2004, the General Assembly passed legislation allowing felons to sidestep this rule and present evidence strong enough to prove "actual innocence."

In March last year, the Supreme Court ruled the girl's recantation was not enough to require a new trial because justices could not tell if she was lying when she testified nor when she recanted.

Kaine spokeswoman Delacey Skinner refused to confirm whether the governor's office had received the petition.
Contact Rex Bowman at (540) 344-3612 or rbowman@timesdispatch.com.