In a paper entitled, The First Wrongful Conviction, by Amy Galea, Psychology, Crime and Law (Dr Alina Ewald, School of Psychology), Western Sydney University, the author examines the Earl Washington, Jr. case. In 1984, Earl Washington was wrongfully convicted of killing Rebecca Lynn Williams, based in part on his confession to the killing. In October 2000, Virginia Governor Gilmore granted Washington a pardon.

In discussing the case, the author makes the statement that, “Based on the year of the investigation, it’s safe to assume that the Reid Interrogation technique was used in Washington.” To the contrary, during the appeal process, we testified on behalf of Mr. Washington, pointing out that improper interrogation procedures were used in this case.