Court voids convictions of father in sexual assault of sons

By DENISE LAVOIE
Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Virginia appeals court has voided the convictions of a man who served more than two decades in prison after being convicted of sexually assaulting his two young sons in the 1990s. Michael Haas was sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted in 1994 of repeatedly sodomizing his sons, ages 9 and 11. His numerous appeals since then were rejected by various courts. But on Tuesday, Virginia’s Court of Appeals granted Haas’ petition for a writ of actual innocence. The court voided his convictions, finding that medical testimony at the time is now considered unreliable.