{"id":2729,"date":"2020-12-17T18:54:49","date_gmt":"2020-12-17T18:54:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=140544"},"modified":"2020-12-17T18:54:49","modified_gmt":"2020-12-17T18:54:49","slug":"termaine-hicks-shot-in-the-back-by-philadelphia-police-is-exonerated-after-19-year-cover-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2020\/12\/17\/termaine-hicks-shot-in-the-back-by-philadelphia-police-is-exonerated-after-19-year-cover-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Termaine Hicks Shot in the Back by Philadelphia Police is Exonerated after 19 Year Cover Up"},"content":{"rendered":"
(Philadelphia, PA\u2014 December 17, 2020) Termaine Hicks walked out of Pennsylvania prison SCI Phoenix yesterday. He was exonerated after the Philadelphia District Attorney\u2019s Office conceded that lead police officers lied under oath to cover up shooting Mr. Hicks\u2014who was innocent of any crime\u2014in the back three times.<\/span><\/p>\n In the early morning hours of November 27, 2001, Mr. Hicks heard the screams of a woman being raped in an alley in South Philadelphia and went to her aid. Police arriving at the scene completely misread the situation, erroneously assuming Mr. Hicks was the assailant, and shot him three times in the back. Realizing Mr. Hicks did not match the description of the attacker provided by a neighbor to 911 and that he was unarmed, the officers embarked on a cover-up, which included: <\/span><\/p>\n Based on the officers\u2019 testimony, Mr. Hicks was convicted of rape, aggravated assault, possessing an instrument of crime, and terroristic threats. He was sentenced to 12 and \u00bd to 25 years in prison. In 2015, Mr. Hicks came up for parole, but because he continued to assert his innocence he was denied, and not considered again. He served 19 years in prison. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMr. Hicks\u2019 case is yet another example of the pervasive problem of police perjury in the criminal legal system. The cover up of shooting an innocent man required the false testimony of three officers and the acquiescence of a dozen more. Deep-seated police misconduct and institutional protections are too often the source of wrongful convictions and injustice in the system.<\/span> For far too long the police have willfully lied with impunity; we need accountability,\u201d said Vanessa Potkin, director of post-conviction litigation at the Innocence Project, who represented Mr. Hicks. <\/span><\/p>\n The Innocence Project, which is affiliated with the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, took on Mr. Hicks\u2019 case in 2011. Exculpatory post-conviction evidence was shared with the Philadelphia Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU), which, under District Attorney Larry Krasner and Patricia Cummings, moved to vacate Mr. Hicks\u2019 conviction yesterday based on the officers\u2019 false trial testimony. <\/span><\/p>\n In addition to the Innocence Project, Mr. Hicks is represented by local counsel Susan Lin of Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing, Feinberg & Lin LLP.<\/span><\/p>\n Read<\/span> Mr Hicks\u2019 Motion to Vacate<\/span><\/a>, the<\/span> Commonwealth\u2019s response<\/span><\/a> and the<\/span> Joint Stipulation of Mr. Hicks and the Commonwealth<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n