3 Philadelphia officers under investigation in 2001 arrest
December 23, 2020 GMT
PHILADELPHIA (AP) Three Philadelphia police officers have been reassigned pending an internal investigation into the arrest and shooting of Termaine Hicks, who was cleared of a 2001 rape last week after spending 19 years in prison.
This decision comes after an investigation by the Innocence Project and the District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit who raised concerns about whether the officers fabricated evidence, planted a gun, and arrested Hicks under false pretenses, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
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“They lied under oath to cover up for shooting an innocent man three times in the back,” Innocence Project lawyer Vanessa Potkin said. She said Hicks had gone to the victim to render aid.
3 Philadelphia police officers under investigation after man is cleared of rape, freed after 19 years
Updated Dec 23, 2020;
Three Philadelphia police officers have been reassigned pending an internal investigation into the arrest of Termaine Joseph Hicks, who was cleared of a 2001 rape last week after spending 19 years in prison.
That decision comes after an investigation by the Innocence Project and the District Attorney’s 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.
Three Philly police officers are under investigation in connection with overturned rape conviction inquirer.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from inquirer.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
He was jailed in 2001 after cops Marvin Vinson and Dennis Zungolo testified against him
They claim they found him raping a woman in an alley near a hospital and that he shot at them when they confronted him
In fact, he d run to the woman s aid when he heard her screaming and the real rapist ran away
He also says he never had a gun and that the cops planted it on him to justify shooting him
The cop was registered to another Philadelphia cop who d never reported it missing
The two cops who testified against him are still working on the force
Termaine Joseph Hicks exonerated after 19 years in prison inquirer.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from inquirer.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.