Until then, he just wants to spend time with his family as a free person. Hicks says, In the judicial system, theres something called finality that is very hard to overcome.. Hicks has a powerful testimony against corruption in policing and the judicial system, but his heart is formed by mercy as much as the call to justice. Hicks lawyers argue that was the light that caused the attacker to flee before Hicks, and then police, arrived. Then a 26-year-old father of one, Mr. Hicks had been walking home when he heard a woman screaming. Vinson told the court he saw Hicks attacking the woman and saw him reach for a gun. Falsely claiming under oath that Mr. Hicks wore a gray hoodie like that a neighbor described the assailant as wearing. Bryan Busch, who represented 11 women, and Phil Reizenstein, who represents one woman, said they did not want to comment on the settlement amounts until funds were released. scripts he had written while incarcerated. After the 5th Circuits ruling, does DACA have a future? His brothers Tone Hicks and Tyron McClendon greeted him upon release. December can be a busy month for exonerations, as prosecutors and defense attorneys try to wrap up cases before the end of the year. You went with an armed guard, but its still pretty darn intimidating, this long walk to an ugly little room., There were 12 men in the room, and they all stood when I walked in. According to her filings, the process of constructing a cover-up began immediately. Inmates were sick, some were dying. Read Mr Hicks Motion to Vacate, the Commonwealths response and the Joint Stipulation of Mr. Hicks and the Commonwealth. The men told me how much they loved Dennis.. 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. A spokesperson for the District Attorneys Office declined to comment on whether it would pursue action against the officers. The chief medical examiner recanted his prior testimony. Yet, forensic examiners found no blood inside of Mr. Hicks jacket pocket. Photo: Peter Tobia. In this case, the new evidence came from Hickss clothing and his own body. On December 16, 2020, Termaine Hicks received what he calls the best news Ive heard in all my life. Hicks learned that, after 19 years in prison for crimes he did not commit, he was finally going home. us about an exoneration that we may have missed, Correct an error or add information about an exoneration Police claimed that Mr. Hicks had a gun on him as part of their effort to cover up the circumstances of the shooting, but the weapon that was attributed to Mr. Hicks was registered to an active Philadelphia police officer. The officer had not reported the gun missing. Medical records and damage to the clothes Hicks was wearing that night showed he had actually been shot in the back, contrary to what police claimed, the Inquirer reported. After his dramatic exoneration and release from prison, Hicks spent six months just trying to ease back into society. The Inquirer reported that Hickss lawyer, Vanessa Potkin, said the gun was covered with blood, but the coat pocket, where Vinson claimed Hicks had been keeping the gun, was clean. Termaine Joseph Hicks, 45, was freed from prison in Philadelphia on Wednesday He was jailed in 2001 after cops Marvin Vinson and Dennis Zungolo testified against him In fact, he'd run to the woman's aid when he heard her screaming and the real rapist ran away We were all mourning. The Innocence Project recruited high-profile forensic pathologist Michael Baden to determine the direction from which the bullets were fired at Hicks. The women feared that if they came forward theyd be sent to another federal facility far from their families, interrupting the education and work programs they had at Coleman, which is the largest federal prison in the U.S. Settlements were approved by the Attorney Generals office on Monday. The National Registry of Exonerations is a project of the Newkirk Center for Science & Society at University of California Irvine, the University of Michigan Law School and Michigan State University College of Law. 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. Six of the eight accused officers admitted to having sexual contact with inmates, according to a July document filed by the United States in response to the complaint. Im just sad because honestly those officers got away with a crime, Rojas said. They were happy for me, banging on doors, he said. There are no words to express what was taken from me, Hollman said in a statement after the settlement was announced. The Philadelphia District Attorneys Conviction Integrity Unit agreed with Hicks and his lawyers, civil-rights attorney Susan Lin, and the Innocence Project, that the case was built on lies possibly to cover up the unjustified shooting that were contradicted by newly analyzed and compelling forensic evidence. 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. A reporter at the Inquirer since 2013, I cover issues of identity, race, social justice, as well as prisons and the legal system. She assumed the lights were police flashlights, but the enhanced footage suggested the light had instead been the delivery trucks headlights. The trial judge retired and was replaced by another judge, which really set the ball in motion, explains Hicks. 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 conviction yesterday based on the officers false trial testimony. Police Officer Martin Vinson said he shot Hicks in the chest or stomach as Hicks was pulling a gun from his pocket and lunging toward him. A woman had been pistol-whipped, dragged into an alleyway behind what was then St. Agnes Hospital in South Philadelphia, and raped until the rapist was startled and fled the scene. They have told me that the trauma of a retrial would be unbearable, she said. She couldnt clearly see her attacker in the dark, and she suffered a head injury. 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. One of the bullets that entered the back of his arm lodged in his chest, collapsing a lung and requiring emergency surgery. WebTermaine Hicks is an exoneree and IP client. Hicks lawyers allege that the cover-up went well beyond the three officers. 21, 2020. A neighbor who witnessed the woman being dragged by the assailant from the sidewalk to the alley and called police in real-time, reported that the attacker was wearing a gray hoodie covering his head. WebOn 03/15/2022 HICKS filed a Civil Right - Other Civil Right court case against CITY OF PHILADELPHIA in U.S. District Courts. He saw two men running away from a figure on the ground near a dumpster. Surveillance tape from that night could reconcile her account with Hicks. That decision comes after an investigation by the Innocence Project and the District Attorneys Conviction Integrity Unit raised serious questions about whether police had fabricated evidence, planted a gun, and arrested Hicks under false pretenses all to conceal a police shooting of an innocent bystander who had rushed to aid a rape victim. Hicks was in South Philadelphia on the early morning of November 27, 2001, when he heard a woman screaming. The reversal comes amid a recent flurry of exonerations as the citys district attorney, Larry Krasner, has aggressively pushed to revisit at least 16 questionable convictions. Shop sales in every category.Uh-oh, overstock: Wayfair put their surplus on sale for up to 50% off. But as settlement conferences dragged on, the effects of her trauma worsened. She noted that the gun was smeared with blood, while the inside of Hicks coat pocket was clean. Twenty-seven judges had looked at my case by then, explains Hicks. In fact, it would be eight years before they could look at it. Based on these lies, Mr. Hicks was convicted of rape, aggravated assault, possessing an instrument of crime, and terroristic threats in 2002 and sentenced to up to 25 years in prison. When you look more broadly at the other officers involved in this case, there is a larger pattern of official misconduct, Potkin said. A spokesperson for the Philadelphia Police Department had not provided a comment as of Wednesday afternoon. The latest Tweets from Termaine Hicks (@TermaineHicks). She began taking medication to try to help. As a white man in the deep south(Ms) Ive seen racism and its unfair and uglythis world has no place for that.brother I dont care if you are pink, purple or polka dotted you are welcome to come eat with me and my family anytime.would love to meet you. He wrote 12 plays and musicals while in prison and, now that hes free, he hopes to eventually produce and direct plays. Finally home, Mr. Hicks said hes most proud of himself for staying strong and remaining determined to prove his innocence. But this settlement closes out a difficult chapter in my life as my family and I now embark on a new one.. also offers motivational speaking and training in schools, teaching positive decision-making, how to recognize bullying, and how to communicate with peers who carry guns, sell drugs, or who drink and drive. It appears that for years and even decades the Philadelphia criminal justice system has shown a pattern of locking up Black men for crimes they didnt commit based on the work of corrupt police officers and conviction-happy courts that never really consider that a Black defendant might be getting railroaded despite a glaring lack of evidence to support their guilt. Determined to make my dreams come true Philadelphia officials said Wednesday that the city will be paying out $9.8 million in one of the largest wrongful-conviction settlements in the citys history to a Black man who spent 28 years in prison for a murder the district attorneys Conviction Integrity Unit now says it was near impossible that he committed. (Philadelphia, PA December 17, 2020) Termaine Hicks walked out of Pennsylvania prison SCI Phoenix yesterday. This article was published more than2 years ago. The police froze the crime scene and catalogued whatever was there. McGrody did not return phone calls on Tuesday. Would be unbearable, she said at Hicks said in a statement the. All my life reconcile her account with Hicks Joint Stipulation of Mr. Hicks jacket.. Hicks attacking the woman and saw him reach for a gun sad because honestly those officers got away a. They loved Dennis a Civil Right - Other Civil Right court case against CITY of Philadelphia in U.S. District.... 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