shortly after that, mike mcalister got a new lawyer. the lawyer learned that norman durst's attacks looked a lot like the attack mike was convicted of. he attacked women alone, using a knife, he was easily spooked, and he even said some of the exact same things. but more importantly, the lead textive and prosecutor in the case had come to believe that they had arrested and convicted the wrong man. and in some places that would have allowed mike to be released from prison, but in virginia, the trial court is not allowed to do anything in a case more than 21 days after a person is convicted. and there was no other way in virginia to bring new evidence of innocence before a court. the rule was absolute. no exceptions. mike had a parole date coming and the detective and prosecutor wrote letters supporting his parole. they even appeared before the parole board on his behalf but didn't matter, his parole was denied. and as that was happening, the innocence movement was getting started. in 2000, the first innocence network conference with ten m

composite was circulated to other police officers, and one of them thought it looked like a man named mike mcalister. he was 29, a little over six feet tall, have light colored shoulder length hair, a beard and high cheek bones. he had no history of violence but did have a history of alcohol abuse and if you call related incidents of indecent exposure. his apartment was a few miles from the crime scene. when police got to his house, he was wearing a red, white and blue plaid shirt. police wanted to take a photo of him and told him he should change his shirt but mike said no, he didn't have anything to hide so why would he change it? police included that photo as one of nine they showed the victim. mike was only one wearing a plaid shirt and the only one whose features closely matched the description of the perpetrator, so mike was arrested. hikes trial lasted four and a half hours and the only evidence linking him to the crime was the victim's testimony. mike was convicted of abduction and attempted rape. that could've been the end of the story but a little bit before trial the lead detective heard

it also is a big year for mike mcalister. people have forgotten about him, but his mom wrote to frank green, reporter at the richmond times dispatch who began writing about his case. a new lawyer also signed on to help mike and defiled a partner's petition within virginia governor mike warner. virginia was no stranger to the problem of wrongful convictions and had seen its share of eyewitnesses but in 2003, mike's petition was denied. the governor's staff said they would be one thing if my cat dna evidence, but he didn't. from 2003-2013, 187 people were exonerated by dna testing. that decade also saw a real change in the conversation about the criminal justice system. with even more states passing laws that allow dna testing and some even starting to pass laws that would help improve eyewitness id procedures, prevent false convictions and regulate state crime labs. even virginia passed a law in part because of mike's case that allowed people with newly discovered evidence of innocence to get back in court in very limited circu

it also is a big year for mike mcalister. people had forgotten about him, but his mom wrote to frank green, reporter at the richmond times dispatch who began writing about his case. a new lawyer also signed on to help mike and he filed a partner's petition within virginia governor mike warner. virginia was no stranger to the problem of wrongful convictions and had seen its share of eyewitnesses but in 2003, mike's petition was denied. the governor's staff said it would be one thing if mike had dna evidence, but he didn't. from 2003-2013, 187 people were exonerated by dna testing. that decade also saw a real change in the conversation about the criminal justice system. with even more states passing laws that allow dna testing and some even starting to pass laws that would help improve eyewitness id procedures, prevent false convictions and regulate state crime labs. even virginia passed a law in part because of mike's case that allowed people with newly discovered evidence of innocence to get back in court in very limited circu