RICHMOND, Va. (WVEC/AP) - A federal judge says that unless they are re-tried within 60 days, charges will be vacated for two men who said they did not commit the rape and murder they pleaded guilty to nearly two decades ago.
U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney Jr. held a hearing Monday on the cases of Danial Williams and Joseph Dick.
Williams and Dick are two of the so-called Norfolk Four - ex-sailors who have long claimed that police coerced them into falsely confessing.
Gibney said in an opinion last month that evidence shows Danial Williams and Joseph Dick did not commit the 1997 rape and murder of Michelle Moore-Bosko.
In light of Gibney's opinion, Attorney General Mark Herring's office said last week that it will no longer oppose overturning their rape and murder convictions. With no plans for a retrial, the charges are expected to be vacated for the men in 60 days.
