William Franklin, recently released after serving 44 years in prison, could emerge from a Philadelphia courtroom acquitted on Friday, but otherwise insists he did not commit the crime. He may face a new trial for the 1976 murder.
His 1980 conviction, based on tainted testimony, was overturned when the only witness against him recanted. His conviction dates back to a crime-ridden era when police and prosecutors were so eager to fabricate unsolved murders that they forced vulnerable witnesses to fabricate stories and frame innocent black men.
District Attorney Larry Krasner, a former public defender, has cracked down on many of these cases since he was elected in Philadelphia in November 2017. Mr. Krasner’s office has acquitted 43 wrongfully convicted prisoners, including 38 blacks, three Latinos, and two whites. But Krasner’s office has so far told the court it will seek a new trial for Franklin.
A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office declined to comment on the Franklin case or possible past rights violations, referring Reuters to court filings in the Franklin case that support the original testimony, which has since been recanted. Philadelphia Police Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
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Franklin, 77, has been confined at his home in North Philadelphia since his release on March 5. In an interview before Friday’s hearing, he smiled ready and credited his Muslim faith and family support for keeping him calm. .
“They won’t lead me astray,” Franklin said. “I’m in a good place. But don’t think I don’t feel it. But I’m not going to go out and rant and rant. That’s not me. .”
He also avoided criticizing Krasner, saying, “I’m not going to bash this guy because he’s helping so many other people.”
Franklin’s attorney, Joe Malone, said he expected prosecutors to drop the case Friday and permanently exonerate Franklin.
Philadelphia’s criminal justice system has become known for the insider term “testimony,” made prominent by the investigative reporting of the Philadelphia Inquirer. There, police and prosecutors manipulated witnesses to frame innocent people and then used charges of perjury and other crimes to coax them into connivance. their story.
Franklin’s case is part of the “Sex for Rise” scandal in which Philadelphia detectives granted criminal suspects access to police interrogation rooms where they could visit their wives, girlfriends and prostitutes in exchange for false accusations. It is believed that there is a connection.
Common Pleas Judge Tracy Brandeis-Roman on February 28, after hearing statements from two Sex for Lies witnesses, weighed in on testimony from Franklin and co-defendant Major Tillery. After recanting a year later, Franklin’s conviction was overturned.
William Franklin, 77, served 44 years in prison for a 1976 murder before being released after protesting his innocence. Franklin has been confined at his home in North Philadelphia since his release on March 5, 2024. (Fox News)
good old days
Matthew Barry Johnson, a professor at New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the practice of granting leniency to criminal suspects in exchange for testifying against others has long been a staple of the U.S. justice system and is frequently He said it had been misused.
Johnson said the advent of progressive prosecutors like Krasner, DNA evidence and more scientific methods of crime have reduced abuse and overturned convictions across the country.
“However, combating pervasive fear of crime remains difficult, and fear of crime is constantly amplified and often amplified by politicians,” Mr Johnson said.
Franklin and co-defendant Tillery were convicted of the 1976 pool shooting that killed Joseph Hollis and injured John Pickens. Franklin said he had frequented the pool hall before but was not there at the time of the shooting.
Three and a half years passed without an arrest before police arrested Franklin based on Emanuel Crait’s statement. Crait later testified in the trial court that he witnessed Tillery kill Hollis and Franklin injure Pickens.
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But when he first became involved with Franklin and Tillery, Crait was in prison with several unresolved lawsuits, and in a 2016 videotape he told Tillery’s investigators that he lied at trial and played pool. He said he was never there. In exchange for a fabricated story, police allegedly allowed him to use an interrogation room and hotel to have sex with his girlfriend.
“If the right is right, the right will win because the prosecutors knew they lied and they set me up to lie,” Kreit said in the video. “And I want to free my conscience. When I know that I did those things, I can’t accept myself.”
Mr. Crait passed away in 2020.
Judge Brandeis Roman cited Crait’s statement as “sex for lies” in his decision to overturn Franklin’s conviction.
In an interview with Reuters, Mr. Franklin called on authorities to release all files on wrongfully convicted people.
Defense attorney Marrone has helped or worked to exonerate Tillery and other Sex for Rise victims.
“There are too many people in state prisons in Pennsylvania for murders from the ’80s and ’90s,” Marrone said, adding that the number of victims is unknown. “We get calls every day. So there could be as many as 50. I don’t know.”
