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“Jonathan Montgomery was convicted in 2008 of sexual assault on the strength of testimony from a teenage girl who has now recanted. The accuser, charged with perjury, is free while she awaits trial. Mr. Montgomery, sentenced to 7 1 / 2 years, is innocent but can’t get out of prison. This month, the judge who sentenced Mr. Montgomery to prison in 2008 was presented with new evidence that his accuser, Elizabeth Paige Coast, had admitted lying about her accusation. But the evidence came to light only in recent weeks, when Ms. Coast came clean about her deception. New evidence or not, the 21-day rule applies.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/virginias-21-day-rule-needs-to-go/2012/11/19/443bfb62-3298-11e2-bfd5-e202b6d7b501_story.html