Former lightweight and junior welterweight boxing contender
Anthony Fletcher (pictured) has been released from prison, 28 years after he was wrongfully convicted of first-degree murder and sent to
Pennsylvania’s death row by false medical testimony.
In a virtual hearing in the
Philadelphia
Court of Common Pleas on January 21, 2021, Fletcher entered a plea of no contest to charges of third-degree murder, and Judge Lillian Ransom resentenced him to 12½–25 years. Because he had already served more than the maximum term, the court ordered Fletcher’s immediate release.
Fletcher was convicted in January 1993 and sentenced to death for what prosecutors claimed had been the execution-style shooting of Vaughn Christopher over a supposed drug debt. Fletcher claimed the shooting had been in self-defense, after the two struggled over a gun Christopher had pulled on Fletcher. Dr. Hydow Park, the assistant medical examiner who conducted the autopsy, had concluded that the physical
He spent years on death row Now, a former Philly boxer will be released from 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.