At about 3:30 a.m. on January 24, 1988, a 25-year-old cocktail waitress came home from work in Virginia Beach, Virginia. When she got out of her car, a Black man pointed a gun at her face and demanded her money and her purse.
She handed them over, and her assailant led her from the lighted area in front of her apartment building to a darkened area at the corner of the building. He raped her at gunpoint. He then dumped out her purse and took her wallet.
Afterward, the victim suggested they each go their separate ways and the assailant agreed. The victim watched him walk away and then ran into her apartment. She first called her mother and then the police. She was taken to a hospital, where a rape kit was taken.
Although the victim said she was badly shaken, she helped the police construct a sketch of the suspect. She viewed many mugshots but made no identification. In June 1988, the police showed her a photographic lineup, and she selected the photograph of 21-year-old Troy Webb as her attacker. Webb’s photograph was included in the lineup because he was on probation after having been convicted in 1985 of being present during a gang-rape of a 14-year-old girl. The judge in that case found that Webb had not touched the girl.
On June 18, 1988, Webb was arrested and charged with rape, abduction with intent to defile, robbery, and use of a firearm during the commission of a robbery.
In February 1989, Webb went to trial in Virginia Beach City Circuit Court. The prosecution presented evidence that the victim, who was white, had picked out a photograph of Webb at the police station. After declaring that she was 99 percent sure that Webb was her attacker, the victim said she was shown another photographic lineup that included a younger picture of him. She testified that she again identified him. She identified Webb in court as well.
A forensic analyst conducted serology testing on swabs collected from the victim after the attack and found Blood Type A antigens, which were foreign to both Webb and the victim. Although Webb should have been excluded as a possible perpetrator based on that finding, the analyst testified that because Webb was a nonsecretor, meaning that his blood type did not show up in his bodily fluids, he could have contributed to a mixed sample.
On February 12, 1989, a jury convicted Webb of all the charges. He was sentenced to 47 years in prison.
All of Webb’s appeals were unsuccessful.
In 1993, Webb wrote to the Innocence Project asking for help in obtaining DNA testing. In 1996, after taking on Webb’s case, the Innocence Project sought access to the evidence. After a motion for DNA testing was granted, the testing was performed at the Virginia State Police crime laboratory. The testing excluded Webb as the rapist.
On October 16, 1996, Virginia Governor George Allen granted a request for a pardon filed by the Innocence Project. Webb was released from prison that day.
Governor Allen subsequently signed a bill approved by the state legislature that awarded Webb $375,000 in compensation.
– Maurice Possley
Posting Date: 08-29-2011
Last Update Date: 03-12-2026
