Photo: Jason E. Miczek/AP Images for The Innocence Project. Listen: Stories about Black men spending years and even decades behind bars for crimes they didnt. Joseph Tremaine Hicks, his lawyer said, is going to be returned to something that he should have had when police encountered him the presumption of innocence.. According to the Inquirer, Hollmans attorneys said he was targeted by police only because he was a Black man driving a white SUV that matched the description of the one seen fleeing the scene of a shooting that killed Penn student Tae-Jung Ho in August 1991. Group showed footage of fatal Breonna Taylor raid at restaurant event, dine BLM co-founders cousin dies after police repeatedly use Taser, video shows, Bidens marijuana policy may change attitudes toward immigrants. If the case had not settled, it would have gone to trial next year. Reached by phone Tuesday, Ellis, a crime-scene-unit officer, declined to comment or to confirm he was under investigation. Several of the same investigators who worked to convict Wright were also involved in Hollmans case. He was arraigned while handcuffed to a hospital bed. Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from the Innocence Project: Police shot Mr. Hicks as he was helping a victim. During the trial a year later, the medical examiner would say he could not determine the direction from which the bullets that struck Hicks were fired. It was brutal for the guys in the penitentiary. In fact, it would be eight years before they could look at it. You can learn more about how we consider cases here. Pennsylvania is one of 15 states that does not compensate exonerees. The lawsuit contended that Bureau of Prisons officers at Federal Correctional Complex Coleman in Sumter County sexually abused female inmates for years and threatened the women if they didnt comply. Termaine Hicks case marks the 16th exoneration since 2018 attributed to the Philadelphia District Attorneys Office Conviction Integrity Unit. WebThe Innocence Project and Philadelphia DAs Conviction Integrity Unit found evidence police lied to cover up the shooting of Termaine Joseph Hicks, a bystander who rushed to help Framed for rape in 2001 at the age of 26, Hicks was falsely incarcerated for nearly two decades. the $9.85 million agreement the city struck in 2018 with Anthony Wright. Witnesses also testified that they had seen a man in a gray hoodie attack the woman, according to court records. She said Hicks had gone to the victim to render aid. Then, he said he shot Hicks in the chest or stomach. Slichter describes her first visit to the prison. The things that are promised to citizens should be delivered: a fair trial, and a fair look at whats being presented.. Then I was invited to EfM by an usher in the church. The United States has settled a lawsuit with 15 women who said correctional officers at a federal prison in Florida repeatedly sexually abused them. She assumed the lights were police flashlights, but the enhanced footage suggested the light had instead been the delivery trucks headlights. In 2015, Mr. Hicks came up for parole, but because he continued to assert his innocence he was denied, and not considered again. Until then, he just wants to spend time with his family as a free person. They had stage fright. Joint Stipulation of Mr. Hicks and the Commonwealth. The cover up of shooting an innocent man required the false testimony of three officers and the acquiescence of a dozen more. The spokesperson declined to confirm the identity of the third officer under investigation. For 19 years, Termaine Joseph Hicks maintained his innocence. She also extended an apology to the victim, whose name was withheld. His attorney Amelia Green said the evidence supporting Hollmans innocence which garnered media attention first in the form of a 2017 report in The Inquirer and, in April, an episode of the Netflix series The Innocence Files put pressure on city officials to resolve the case swiftly, though neither they nor police admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement deal. You can learn more about how we consider cases here. Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Doug Harper at (850) 488 The Philadelphia police did not immediately return a request for comment on the case, but Anthony Erace, the executive director of the Police Advisory Commission, told the Inquirer he would seek a review of the investigation. I was writing Christian plays, engaged in independent study, and searching Scripture. Rev. Like the traveler in the parable of the Good Samaritan, the victim had been left beaten, bloody, and half naked. Termaine Hicks was released from SCI Phoenix Prison Tuesday, Dec.16, 2020 in Collegeville, Penn. Help us advocate for the innocent by sharing the latest news from the Innocence Project. Termaine Hicks was convicted on rape and other charges, largely on the testimony of police officers. Those cases have led to more than a dozen exonerations in recent years and have cost the city more than $35 million since 2018. Before finalizing the decision to drop charges, she consulted with the victims family. His payout is just $50,000 short of the record for settlements of its kind in the city a distinction held by the $9.85 million agreement the city struck in 2018 with Anthony Wright, a man who served nearly 25 years of a sentence for a 1991 rape and murder that DNA evidence proved decades later he did not commit. Hicks said he showed up at the scene moments after the true assailant ran away from those headlights and just a few moments before police arrived. The tape showed a man in a gray hoodie dragging the victim into the alley. The cover up of shooting an innocent man required the false testimony of three officers and the acquiescence of a dozen more. Hicks recruited other prisoners to act in the production. In a first, House Democrats elected a Black leader. A reporter at the Inquirer since 2013, I cover issues of identity, race, social justice, as well as prisons and the legal system. When you look more broadly at the other officers involved in this case, there is a larger pattern of official misconduct, Potkin said. But as settlement conferences dragged on, the effects of her trauma worsened. We welcome new information from any source about exonerations already on our list and about cases not in the Registry that might be exonerations. That matched other witness statements that the attacker wore a gray hoodie, while Hicks coat had no hood. It was before dawn on Nov. 27, 2001, and Termaine Joseph Hicks was at the wrong place at precisely the wrong time. Is Wakanda Forever too woke for Marvels own good? As he was sentenced, Hicks told the judge: an innocent man cant sit in jail for long. Hicks Slichter said to them, I dont know how you feel about having a woman for a mentor. She would always say, Ive got some good news and some not-so-good news. The good news was that he still had a chance, and the not-so-good news was another continuance60 days, 90 days, 180 days. Dennis Zungolo testified against him They claim they found him raping a woman in an alley near a hospital and He is going to be returned to something that he should have had on November 27, when police encountered him, but he didnt, Potkin said, the Inquirer reported. Most of these kids had made a single mistake, he says, often as the result of bullying, and their entire lives were disrupted. us about an exoneration that we may have missed, Correct an error or add information about an exoneration Hicks came from Maryland, Possibly with former slaveowner, White Brown. There was no evidence linking Hollman to the shooting and the two witnesses who identified him later recanted and said they were coerced by police to give their false testimonies. (Image: Jason E. Miczek/AP Images for the Innocence Project). A jury later convicted Hicks of rape, and a judge sentenced him to up to 25 years in prison. If seated, a Cherokee delegate could make a big difference in Congress, How the racial makeup of where you live has changed since 1990, Subscribe to About US to read the latest on race and identity, Examining systemic racism through the lens of his life, Understanding racism and inequality in America. As one of the men said, referencing the work of famed public interest lawyer and equal justice activist Bryan Stevenson, Would you want to be known for the worst thing you ever did, for the rest of your life?. But that defendant was acquitted at a re-trial when the defense presented evidence that Officer Ellis planted ballistics and falsely attributed guns to the accused that he did not in fact possess.. A spokesperson for the District Attorneys Office declined to comment on whether it would pursue action against the officers. One was a 2015 lawsuit alleging that Vinson and another officer had dragged a taxi driver falsely accused of stealing a cell phone out of his cab and assaulted him. Thank you for visiting us. Someone grabbed her, dragged her into an alley and raped her at gunpoint. I dont know how you feel about having a white woman. One of the inmates replied, Miss Ginny, everybody needs a mama! For the first couple of years, she was known as Mama Ginny. WebOn February 27, 2003, Hicks was sentenced to between 12 and 25 years in prison. Im just sad because honestly those officers got away with a crime, Rojas said. Making it easier for Black people to vote had unexpected consequences, Latinos who use Spanish-language social media get more misinformation, How public colleges have already backed away from affirmative action. Obviously, the worst part of these false convictions is that Black people are having enormous chunks of their lives stolen from them all because America is racist and its justice system reflects that, but the convictions are also a burden on taxpayers who end up footing the bill for settlements because they live in cities where law enforcement cares more about forcing guilty verdicts than they do about actually solving crimes. A judge ordered him released last year at age 49, citing evidence that police and prosecutors built their case on fabricated statements from people they coerced as witnesses and later withheld evidence pointing to the likely true perpetrators of the crime. The Innocence Project and Philadelphia DAs Conviction Integrity Unit found evidence police lied to cover up the shooting of Termaine Joseph Hicks, a bystander who rushed to help a rape victim. He wrote 12 plays and musicals while in prison and, now that hes free, he hopes to eventually produce and direct plays. I found what was already there. He created an organization called S.T.E.P.U.P., an acronym for Selfless Thinking Expresses Potential that Uplifts People, and began writing educational scripts that were later turned into films. Copyright 2023 The Washington Times, LLC. In this case, the new evidence came from Hickss clothing and his own body. Press "Enter" or click on the arrow to show results. He said: I tried to get the male to, uh, you know, put his hands where I could see them, and he was reaching for something and I couldnt see it.. They shot him three times in the back. But in recent years, evidence has piled up to suggest that the case presented by police and prosecutors was riddled with errors, the Inquirer reported. Inmates were sick, some were dying. It was hard to maintain sanity.. Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Tracy Brandeis-Roman vacated the conviction and offered a bittersweet congratulations to Hicks. The agreement announced Wednesday is the latest in a string of seven-figure settlements stemming from claims of misconduct by city police in the late 1980s and 90s. He says EfM provided him with a firm foundation so that, like John the Baptist, he would not be a reed shaken by every wind. Potkin also drew parallels to a criminal case, USA v. Mortimer, in which Ellis reported recovering two illegal guns from a suspect during a 1996 traffic stop. Both Gillum and Lettman-Hicks were indicted as part of the FBI's long-running investigation into public corruption in Tallahassee. The investigation already netted convictions and federal prison time for former Mayor and City Commissioner Scott Maddox, his longtime aide Paige Carter-Smith and wealthy entrepreneur John "J.T." Burnette. The officers involved in this case had extensive internal affairs files with numerous allegations of lying, planting evidence, excessive force, and substantiated complaints filed by civilians. Hicks didnt want his grandson to see him in prison. Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude. As the Psalmist wrote, God knows our frame and remembers we are made from dust. With that understanding, I am able to move forward. Im excited for younow go live your life manyou deserve a good one. The website is updated daily, frequently with exonerations that occurred in the past. Baden testified that all shots were fired from behind Hicks, so he could not have been lunging at the officer who pulled the trigger. Vinson testified that he fired because Hicks reached for a gun and lunged at him and his then-partner Zungolo testified he saw Hicks pulling up his pants when police arrived. We empower youth to use their voice to prevent bullying and violence, says Hicks about his presentations at schools. Now, he hopes to produce work for the wider community, including a play about his own life and performances inspired by the oldheads who shared their wisdom over decades in prison. But the surveillance footage was not provided to Hicks or his lawyers until after his trial had concluded. Vinson, most recently assigned to the Third Police District, has not responded to requests for comment. Hicks served 19 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. The chief medical examiner recanted his prior testimony. The Innocence Project recruited high-profile forensic pathologist Michael Baden to determine the direction from which the bullets were fired at Hicks. That means its over; youre going to serve your sentence.. What she remembered was that after bright lights appeared, the assault stopped. The day of the incident, detectives viewed surveillance footage which confirmed the assailant was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, which should have excluded Mr. Hicks as a suspect. But unlike in Wrights case, which was settled on the eve of a civil trial, the agreement in Hollmans case came before he had even filed suit. Termaine Hicks (Photo: Jason E. Miczek for AP/Innocence Project), Support The National Registry of Exonerations , The Contribution of Forensic and Expert Evidence to DNA Exoneration Cases, Race and Wrongful Convictions in the United States, 2022, Government Misconduct and Convicting the Innocent, Witness Recantations: Preliminary Findings, May 2013, Exonerations in the United States: 1989 - 2012, Tell us about an Exoneration that we missed, Other Philadelphia, Pennsylvania exonerations. He said come sit, check it out. Hicks went to one session as a guest and was intrigued by the concept. He has always maintained that he arrived at the scene when he attempted to help the victim, she said. Mr. Hicks was transported to the hospital in all of his clothing which was preserved and included only a coat, a striped polo shirt, and white t-shirt but no hoodie. The United States has settled a lawsuit with 15 women who said correctional officers at a federal prison in Florida repeatedly sexually abused them. I signed on to start the next year.. All Rights Reserved. On Wednesday afternoon, released from the State Correctional Institution Phoenix to his brothers home just a few miles away in Montgomery County, Hicks said he was both overjoyed and overwhelmed. On Wednesday, after 19 years incarceration, Hicks, 45, was, at last, exonerated. The new analysis outlined a case in which ample physical evidence available 19 years ago ought to have been enough to clear Hicks, who was known in court records as Jermaine Weeks. Deep-seated police misconduct and institutional protections are too often the source of wrongful convictions and injustice in the system. Extended an apology to the third officer under investigation tape showed a man in a first House! I signed on to start the next year.. All Rights Reserved of three officers and the of! Updated daily, frequently with exonerations that occurred in the system officers at a federal in... 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