Most of these kids had made a single mistake, he says, often as the result of bullying, and their entire lives were disrupted. Those cases have led to more than a dozen exonerations in recent years and have cost the city more than $35 million since 2018. Termaine Hicks, 47, on West Girard Avenue in West Philadelphia on Dec. 2, 2022. The way that cops approach Black and brown men and women stems from years of systemic racism. As the case slowly made its way through the courts, she said she couldnt sleep through the night. Then a 26-year-old father of one, Mr. Hicks had been walking home when he heard a woman screaming. 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. The gun that was entered into evidence was registered to a Philadelphia police officer. This dragging on, its like youre still living it, Reynolds said. 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. | Editorial, Tampa man who was first to face trial for Florida voter fraud in 2020 election gets probation, St. Pete womans dream home turns into a nightmare after she finds code violation, DeSantis, GOP lawmakers pursue efforts to weaken news media protections, Florida man paralyzed by officer who mistook gun for Taser sues, Explosive found on Florida-bound Allegiant flight, man arrested, States move to crack down on nurses with bogus diplomas from Florida schools, correctional officers at a federal prison in Florida repeatedly sexually abused them, Florida teen charged as adult in rigged homecoming election. (Image: Jason E. Miczek/AP Images for the Innocence Project). Im just sad because honestly those officers got away with a crime, Rojas said. It was before dawn on Nov. 27, 2001, and Termaine Joseph Hicks was at the wrong place at precisely the wrong time. Lauren Reynolds received $600,000 for her settlement - but she said it wasnt about the money. Hicks had been exonerated. At the same time, my thoughts and prayers are with the countless others who are not coming home today or ever because of an impulsive, ill-prepared, and apprehensive cop. The United States has settled a lawsuit with 15 women who said correctional officers at a federal prison in Florida repeatedly sexually abused them. Dennis Zungolo. Attempting to reach the Supreme Court as a pro se litigant, would have been an exercise in futility so I withdrew my appellate rights. Going back to the morning of the crime, the victim was not able to identify her assailant. McGrody did not return phone calls on Tuesday. However, police did not disclose the surveillance footage until after the trial. The men told me how much they loved Dennis.. A police spokesperson said that the district attorney did not provide details on the allegations until after Hicks WebOn 03/15/2022 HICKS filed a Civil Right - Other Civil Right court case against CITY OF PHILADELPHIA in U.S. District Courts. She assumed those were police spotlights. Police disciplinary records are currently kept confidential in nearly half of states, including Pennsylvania. The things that are promised to citizens should be delivered: a fair trial, and a fair look at whats being presented.. Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude. Everything slowed down, says Hicks. Hicks lawyers alleged that the cover-up went beyond the three officers. Court records for this case are available from Pennsylvania Eastern District Court. But, he added: Its unfortunate and sad that it took how long it took for me to clear my name. And he was unarmed. Thank you for your understanding in this matter. He served 19 years in prison. S.T.E.P.U.P. Had these records been publicly available, Mr. Hicks may not have had to endure so many years of injustice or been wrongly convicted at all, she said. That means its over; youre going to serve your sentence.. Then I was invited to EfM by an usher in the church. us about an exoneration that we may have missed, Correct an error or add information about an exoneration You cant be in this box when it comes to God and religion, he says. Potkin said further evidence suggests police planted the gun they said they retrieved from his jacket pocket. 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. Tell Mr. For far too long the police have willfully lied with impunity; we need accountability, said Vanessa Potkin, director of post-conviction litigation at the Innocence Project, who represented Mr. Hicks. The city has settled civil-rights complaints naming Vinson and Ellis as defendants. Several of the same investigators who worked to convict Wright were also involved in Hollmans case. Photo: Peter Tobia. A spokesperson for the Philadelphia Police Department had not provided a comment as of Wednesday afternoon. I survived, he says, and I understood the gravity of the situation right away. Officer Martin Vinson claimed to have witnessed Hicks raping the victim. They greeted me with such unexpected affection. All Rights Reserved. after a wrongful incarceration for 19 years. after a wrongful incarceration for 19 years. Now, said Innocence Project attorney Vanessa Potkin, He is going to be returned to something that he should have had on Nov. 27, when police encountered him, but he didnt: the presumption of innocence.. It was 2012 by the time Hicks withdrew his appellate rights, which meant he would have another 13 years to serve. Photo: Jason E. Miczek/AP Images for The Innocence Project. Twenty-seven judges had looked at my case by then, explains Hicks. In 2003, he was sentenced to 12.5 to 25 years in prison. William Campbell, S.J. Then, Hicks lawyers say, Vinson used his police radio to contact dispatch. The conviction was vacated, and the charge dismissed. Until then, he just wants to spend time with his family as a free person. Rev. The footage then shows a delivery van arriving, the flash of its headlights flooding the alley. into a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization to produce and promote the videos, which are now being requested in schools around the nation. According to her filings, the process of constructing a cover-up began immediately. Within 30 days of surrendering his appellate rights, Hicks was contacted by the Innocence Project. This is my ministry, he says. Jason E. Miczek / AP Images for The Innocence Project. Is Wakanda Forever too woke for Marvels own good? During his time in prison he joined the Education for Ministry (EfM) program, wrote plays, and later formed S.T.E.P.U.P. The basics of personal finance, like How to save for a house. Figure out your next step toward financial freedom. Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Tracy Brandeis-Roman vacated the conviction and offered a bittersweet congratulations to Hicks. scripts he had written while incarcerated. On a November morning in 2001, Hicks had just walked his little brother, Tyron, to the bus stop in their south Philadelphia neighborhood, when he was called to be a real-life Good Samaritan. His attorneys celebrated the exoneration Wednesday, noting that Hicks, who was the father of a 5-year-old boy when he was incarcerated, would be able to meet his 2-year-old grandson for the first time. It was in such a group at the State Correctional InstitutionGraterford, a maximum-security prison in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, that EfM group leader Ginny Slichter met Termaine Hicks for the first time. 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. As a result of receiving this information, we have opened an Internal Affairs investigation into the allegations of police misconduct, the spokesperson said in an email. The website is updated daily, frequently with exonerations that occurred in the past. But no officers were prosecuted. I could have been paralyzed; there are still fragments of that bullet near my spine. Ellis arrived with his then-partner, Duane Watson who is currently facing perjury charges after his testimony in a narcotics arrest was contradicted by surveillance video. Joe Rojas, the southeast regional vice president for the workers union, AFGE Council of Prisons, said the case was a black eye for an otherwise hardworking and upright staff. Again, no gray hoodie was found. 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. Mr. Hicks, an Innocence Project client, was wrongly convicted of a rape that took place in Philadelphia in 2001. Hicks is the 16th person exonerated by the Conviction Integrity Unit since District Attorney Larry Krasner took office in 2018, and the first to be cleared of a rape. I am quite cognizant of the pain and the trauma of the victim, and then more pain in realizing that the wrong person was convicted, Brandeis-Roman said. Then they began to let us out againbut only for 15 minutes a day. Hicks was not eligible for parole because he maintained his innocence and would not express remorse for a crime he did not commit. Seeing so many inmates broken by the prison system, Hicks determined he would find his strength in God. TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA A federal grand jury has returned a twenty-one count indictment against Andrew Demetric Gillum, 42, and Sharon Janet Lettman-Hicks, 53, both of Tallahassee, Florida. The indictment was announced by Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. Termaine Hicks speaks out after 19 years in prison for a crime he didnt commit (Part 1), At least 2 dead after exposure to unknown substance at N.Y. senior facility, Clark Atlanta University students mourn loss of athlete fatally shot near campus, Iranian government to investigate series of poisonings, Pennsylvania man accused of trying to bring explosive on plane, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle asked to leave Frogmore Cottage. Three shots rang out, striking Hicks in the arm, chest, back, and buttock. Hicks was in South Philadelphia on the early morning of November 27, 2001, when he heard a woman screaming. WebTermaine Hicks is an exoneree and IP client. Zungolo, of South Detectives Division, declined an interview and referred questions to John McGrody, vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5. About the money termaine Hicks, 47, on West Girard Avenue in West Philadelphia Dec.... 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