Curtis Crosland spent 34 years in prison. Evidence on file for decades exonerated him.

Bruce Fischer Aug 2, 2021 The Exonerated, Wrongful Convictions

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/01/philadelphia-man-exonerated-murder-charge-prison/

Decades ago, two witnesses linked Curtis Crosland to the killing of South Philadelphia grocery store owner Il Man Heo during a nighttime robbery.

No physical evidence connected Crosland to the scene, according to court documents. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison based entirely on the witnesses’ statements, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office said.

Crosland spent 34 years — more than half his life — in prison for the crime. But the state said investigators may not have handed over “troubling” information that would have undermined the witnesses’ credibility decades ago — and pointed to another suspect.

The case that left Crosland behind bars for decades was recently unraveled by the district attorney’s office. After the office’s conviction integrity unit (CIU) — created to examine assertions of innocence and wrongful conviction — launched an investigation into the case, the 60-year-old was exonerated and released from prison in late June. Read more>>