Keith Allen Harward's Wrongful Conviction

Keith Allen Harward served 33 years in prison in Virginia for a rape and murder (The Innocence Project, 2025). The main evidence for his conviction was bite marks found on the rape victim’s legs. Someone broke into a house and murdered a man and raped the man’s wife. The rape victim described the man who had assaulted her, saying he was wearing a sailor’s outfit. A shipyard security guard nearby reported a man in a blood-spattered E-3 sailor’s uniform. Dental records of all E-3s were obtained and tested, and Harward was identified as the assailant (Keith Allen HARWARD v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia, 1988). Harward was later exonerated by DNA evidence that cleared his name and implicated a man named Jerry Crotty. Throughout his various trials, 6 different forensic dentists testified that Harward’s teeth matched the bite marks on the victim (The Innocence Project, 2025).