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Harris said he was in Rappahannock the entire day on Oct. 26. He taught a tennis lesson at 1:15 p.m. and spent the afternoon and evening with friends in the county, he said.
“When [Harris] came to see me initially, he was adamant that not only was he not guilty of the charge, but he couldn’t remember the last time he was in Spotsylvania County for any reason,” Howard said.
Howard said he sent a letter to Spotsylvania Commonwealth’s Attorney William F. Neely that outlined Harris’s background and provided several character witnesses, including Rappahanndck County Administrator John McCarthy and former Rappahannock County Sheriff Gary Settle. The correspondence also listed the contact information for the three people Harris was with when the incident occurred.
“I talked to a lot of people and I met with the people who were with him that day and thoroughly interviewed them. Nothing added up,” Howard said.
Howard said Neely is an “honorable, fair-minded person.” He said it is unusual for a defense attorney to give away names of witnesses before a preliminary hearing and that may have raised a red flag with the prosecution.
“I said, Hey I’m gonna give you everything I got,’ “ Howard said.
The attorney said he does not think anyone involved in the case bears any malice toward Harris, but he added that eyewitness reports are unreliable.
“1 don’t think anyone had anything personal against Hunt,” Howard said. “Eye-witness identification is the most dangerous thing in the world, because everyone sees something differently.
“I’m happy there was a response to what we provided, and I think the right decision has been made,” he said. “Indeed I think there was a terrible mistake made here, and to the credit of Mr. Neely and his staff... they ended up doing the right thing.”
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