The Englewood Four: Illinois; Declared innocent at last. Nancy Petro. Wrongful Convictions Blog;

STORY: "Englewood four are officially innocent," posted by Nancy Petro on the Wrongful Convictions Blog, on September 14, 2012.

GIST: "On Friday afternoon, Sept. 14, 2012, Judge Paul Biebel, chief judge of the Criminal Division of the Cook County (IL) Circuit Court, granted certificates of innocence to four men—Vincent Thames, Terrill Swift, Harold Richardson, and Michael Saunders—who became known as the Englewood Four after their conviction of the 1994 rape and murder of a South Chicago alleged prostitute. Ranging in ages from 15 to 18 at the time, the four teens confessed during interrogation by Chicago police. No physical evidence connected them to the crime. As reported by the Center on Wrongful Convictions here, the four were found guilty without a jury by Judge Thomas Sumner, who said that without the 22-page confession “there is no case.” Their sentences ranged from 30-40 years. Defense lawyers—including Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth staff attorney Josh Tepfer and the Center’s legal director Steve Drizen, representing Terrill Swift—sought more advanced DNA testing on the male biological evidence from the victim in 2010. Prosecutors initially resisted and argued that the testing would not prove innocence in this case. But in May 2011 State Police announced that the DNA matched a deceased violent offender who had been convicted of killing another prostitute. The four, who had served about a decade and a half, were exonerated as a result."

The entire post can be found at:

http://wrongfulconvictionsblog.org/2012/09/14/englewood-four-are-officially-innocent/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

I am monitoring this case. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments.

The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.