3 men after exonerated after spending decades in prison for 1997 Philadelphia murder, district attorney says
Three men have been exonerated after spending decades in prison for the 1997 murder of a woman in North Philadelphia.
Mark Brittingham, Jermel Shuler and Rasheed Smith have been exonerated for the 1997 murder of an elderly woman in her North Philadelphia home, District Attorney Larry Krasner said Tuesday. Their convictions did not have integrity, Krasner said.
The three men, who are now in their 40s, were convicted of second-degree murder in November 1998 for the death of Essie Thomas, 73, and sentenced to mandatory life in prison. The Conviction Integrity Unit within the district attorney's office investigated the case, and Judge Jennifer Schultz vacated the charges.
No witnesses said they saw or heard the attack, and no forensic or physical evidence tied the men to the crime, according to a news release from the district attorney's office.
During the re-examination of the case, a forensic pathology expert found issues with the assistant medical examiner's testimony about Thomas' time of death, which also undermined the convictions, the DA's office said. The judge who vacated the charges mentioned the medical examiner's disciplinary record in court, Krasner said.
A single witness claimed they saw the three men leaving Thomas' home before the murder, but that witness was likely lying, Krasner said.
"At the heart of this case is the fact that a long time ago, they were convicted based upon the testimony of a medical examiner that we have every reason to believe was wrong," Krasner said during a press conference. "That medical examiner identified a time of death that was way off, and that was a very important fact because it connected to when a witness claimed she saw three men on the porch. There are some real problems with that witness, whose lies were documented by police officers who were actually present to confirm that she was telling them untruths to benefit herself."
