61-year-old man is exonerated in 1990 Philadelphia murder
A 61-year-old man was exonerated Monday when a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge vacated his conviction in a 1990 murder, which his lawyers argued was tainted because police and prosecutors withheld evidence discrediting the only two witnesses in the case. Ronald Johnson, who was behind bars...
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61-year-old man is exonerated in 1990 Philadelphia murder
A 61-year-old man was exonerated Monday when a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge vacated his conviction in a 1990 murder, which his lawyers argued was tainted because police and prosecutors withheld evidence discrediting the only two witnesses in the case. Ronald Johnson, who was behind bars for 34 years, was released from the State Correctional Institution Phoenix in Montgomery County Monday night after Judge Scott DiClaudio issued his order earlier in the day and the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office moved to dismiss all charges, said Johnson's lawyers at the nonprofit public interest law firm Phillips Black. βFor over three decades, Mr. Johnson and three generations of his family have fought tirelessly to prove his innocence,β the law firm posted on its website. The Conviction Integrity Unit of the District Attorney's Office said in a 29-page filing in November that the evidence in the case βundermines confidence in the outcome of Johnson's trial.β