Derrick Chappell, Morton Johnson and Sam Grasty: Pennsylvania: Major (Unwelcome) Development: New DNA evidence points to an unknown man as the killer - but that's not good enough for Pennsylvania's prosecutors…CNN (Correspondent Danny Freeman and Senior Writer Eric Levenson) reports that a district attorney intends to appeal a judge's decision last month to overturn the murder convictions of these three men who have sent nearly 25 years in prison for a crime they say they did not commit…"On Tuesday, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said he had, in fact, decided to appeal. In a statement to CNN, Stollsteimer said doing so would be “in the interest of justice.” “While I have great respect for Judge Brennan,” Stollsteimer said, “I do not believe the DNA evidence recently submitted to the court, which matches the DNA already entered into evidence at each of the three defendants’ individual trials, constitutes new evidence under Pennsylvania law, and certainly does not exonerate these defendants.” A notice of appeal was filed with the court on Friday, according to the district attorney’s office."

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Attorneys for at least two of the men said the district attorney’s announcement was disappointing “There could be nothing further than justice than the decision to appeal the judge’s order,” said Vanessa Potkin of the Innocence Project, who represents Johnson. “The DA’s decision is perpetrating a two decade long injustice and demonstrates profound confusion about both the science of DNA and the law.”

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STORY: "District attorney plans to appeal decision to overturn murder convictions of ‘Chester Trio,’ by Philadelphia Correspondent  Danny Freeman and Senior Writer  Eric Levenson, published by CNN, on April 30, 2024.

GIST: "A Pennsylvania district attorney intends to appeal a judge’s decision last month to overturn the murder convictions of the so-called “Chester Trio” – three men who have spent nearly 25 years in prison for a crime they say they did not commit.

Derrick Chappell, 41; Morton Johnson, 44; and Samuel Grasty, 47, were each convicted in separate trials in 2000 and 2001 of second-degree murder and other charges and sentenced to life in prison for the 1997 killing of Henrietta Nickens, 70, in Chester, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia.

They’ve maintained their innocence in the more than two decades since, and asked a judge last year to throw out their convictions and order new trials, citing new DNA evidence they say points to an unknown man as the killer. In late March – over the objections of prosecutors who fought to have the convictions upheld – Delaware County Judge Mary Alice Brennan vacated the trio’s convictions and granted their request for a new trial.

Still, Chappell, Johnson and Grasty remained behind bars: Prosecutors had up to 30 days to decide whether to appeal the ruling, and a bail hearing was scheduled to take place on May 23.

These teams work to overturn wrongful convictions, freeing innocent people from prison. They can do much more, experts say

On Tuesday, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said he had, in fact, decided to appeal. In a statement to CNN, Stollsteimer said doing so would be “in the interest of justice.”

“While I have great respect for Judge Brennan,” Stollsteimer said, “I do not believe the DNA evidence recently submitted to the court, which matches the DNA already entered into evidence at each of the three defendants’ individual trials, constitutes new evidence under Pennsylvania law, and certainly does not exonerate these defendants.”

A notice of appeal was filed with the court on Friday, according to the district attorney’s office.

Attorneys for at least two of the men said the district attorney’s announcement was disappointing.

“There could be nothing further than justice than the decision to appeal the judge’s order,” said Vanessa Potkin of the Innocence Project, who represents Johnson. “The DA’s decision is perpetrating a two decade long injustice and demonstrates profound confusion about both the science of DNA and the law.”

That sentiment was echoed by Nilam Sanghvi of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, which represents Chappell, saying the appeal would “prolong the unjust incarceration of our clients.”

“The new DNA evidence conclusively shows that none of them was involved in this horrific crime and that, instead, an unknown male was the perpetrator,” Sanghvi said. “We plan to seek bail pending appeal and look forward to the bail hearing the Court has scheduled for May 23rd.”

Grasty’s attorney, Paul Casteleiro, said Stollsteimer “refused to meet with the attorneys for the three innocent men to discuss the case,” and called the appeal “an insult to the citizens of Pennsylvania and all who believe in a justice system based on truthful evidence.”

Nickens died in her Chester home on October 10, 1997. She had been beaten, and investigators found semen in her rectum that testing at the time indicated was from a male who remains unknown to this day, according to court filings.

The trio’s petition for a new trial followed new DNA testing in 2021 that further linked evidence from the crime scene to the unknown male – and excluded the three defendants, according to Chappell’s attorneys.

The prosecution, however, argued in part that the initial trials did not connect the semen to the defendants, so the results of the new DNA testing did not change the evidence.

The entire story can be read at:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/30/us/district-attorney-will-appeal-decision-to-overturn-chester-trio-murder-convictions/index.html

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. 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.

SEE BREAKDOWN OF  SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG,  AT THE LINK BELOW:  HL:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985

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FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."

Lawyer Radha Natarajan:

Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;

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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!

Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;

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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:

David Hammond, one of Broadwater's attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, "Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it's the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.

https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-12348801

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