Consumer Law
A Philadelphia Man Who Wrongfully Served 37 Years in Prison Sues the City
A Philadelphia man freed after 37 years in prison in a case tainted by perjured testimony accused the city of “outrageous police misconduct” in a lawsuit filed Thursday, the same day his 1984 murder case was dismissed.
Willie Stokes left prison earlier this month, after a federal judge found prosecutors never disclosed that they had charged his chief accuser with perjury after the trial. The witness has said he was offered sex and drugs at police headquarters to frame Stokes in an unsolved 1980 dice-game slaying.
“I’m not bitter. I’m just excited to move forward,” Stokes, 60, told The Associated Press after the brief morning court hearing, when prosecutors announced they would not seek to retry the case.
