SUB-HEADING: :"Former Philadelphia detectives found guilty of lying under oath in Anthony Wright trial, WHYY Reports, on March 27, 2025.l
SUB_HEASING: "Manuel Santiago and Frank Jastrzembski were found guilty of lying during the 2016 retrial of Anthony Wright. Martin Devlin was acquitted of all charges."
GIST: Two long-retired Philadelphia homicide detectives accused of lying under oath in the case involving Anthony Wright were convicted on perjury charges Thursday, while another was acquitted.
Retired detectives Manuel Santiago and Frank Jastrzembski were found guilty of one count each of false swearing. Santiago was also found guilty of one count of perjury.
Martin Devlin was acquitted of all charges, according to the Associated Press.
The case stemmed from the 1991 rape and killing of 77-year-old Louise Talley during an apparent burglary.
Anthony Wright, then 20, was convicted of rape and murder and spent 25 years in prison before DNA testing pointed to someone else.
The detectives were all retired when a 1991 homicide case was retried in 2016, restarting the statute of limitations to file perjury charges.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said at a news conference Thursday that Wright was the victim of a false conviction ”by every scientific indication.”
Krasner said Anthony Wright’s case “stands out in the history of the Innocence Project,” a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals.
He said former DA Seth Williams, who was convicted in 2017 on corruption charges, fought for years to make sure the DNA wasn’t tested.
“I hope the message will be heard, loud and clear, for every person who testifies under oath, provides information to police or who provides information to a court that your lies will follow you,” Krasner said. ”You risk an appropriately harsh sentence that you richly deserve.”
DNA evidence eventually connected Ronnie Byrd as the perpetrator.
Byrd lived less than two miles away from Talley, according to Krasner.
The Innocence Project said Byrd was 39 years old at the time of the crime and had a lengthy criminal record. He died in South Carolina in early 2013.
Jastrzembski, 77, and Santiago, 75, are facing prison time and are scheduled to be sentenced June 18."
The entire story can be read at:
https://whyy.org/articles/mixed-verdict-philadelphia-detectives-murder-exoneration/
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
———————————————————————————————
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;
—————————————————————————————————
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;
