Philly's record exonerations call decades of homicide investigations into question

[Nevilledog]

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Abraham Gutman🔥
@abgutman
Read this now.

@PhillyInquirer created a first of its kind database of 88 homicide cases in which the detectives are accused of fabricating statements and coercing confessions.

Reported by the masterful @samanthamelamed, @dgambacorta, and @dylancpurcell.

Philly's record exonerations call decades of homicide investigations into question
Witnesses and suspects say detectives threatened, assaulted and coerced them to get statements. Detectives say those are lies by fearful witnesses who need an excuse to recant.
inquirer.com
5:12 AM · May 7, 2021

https://www.inquirer.com/crime/a/philadelphia-murder-exonerations-wrongful-convictions-20210507.html

Philly’s murder exonerations raise questions about decades of homicide investigations — and whether the misconduct alleged in those cases was part of a pattern that led to many more wrongful convictions.

When detectives walked Danielle Crawley through a maze of cubicles and filing cabinets in the Philadelphia Police Department’s Homicide Unit, her hands and clothes were still stained with her brother’s blood.

That morning, Crawley, age 19, was retrieving her things from her ex-partner’s home when her protective older brother, Eric, a SEPTA bus driver, came to check on her. Patrol officers, dispatched there on a disturbance complaint, were outside, as was Crawley’s mother. Minutes later, everything changed: One of the officers shot Eric, firing a single bullet to the chest, right in front of his mother and sister. Crawley rushed to stop the bleeding, pressing her hands onto the wound, but her brother did not survive.

In a tight cubicle in the Police Administration Building, a detective was asking about what would become the department’s narrative of the incident: that Eric, who’d been agitated over the domestic incident, had pulled his licensed handgun from its concealed holster before he was shot.

“I told her, my brother never had his gun out,” said Crawley, who a decade later still sobs thinking about the interrogation. “I kept telling her what happened. She said she was going to take my kid away. I just had my daughter. She said she’s going to throw me in jail. She said my mom is old, I’ll never see her again, and who’s going to take care of my mom?”

*snip*

[USALiberal]

1. And some DUers still support the death pentaly! Nt

[jmbar2]

2. Check out "Philly DA" on PBS

This is a remarkable documentary series on the battle to reform the Philly DA's office due to stuff like this. The storyline is as compelling as "The Wire", and the photography of the gorgeous buildings in Philadelphia is pure art.

Highly recommend.