Now, said Innocence Project attorney Vanessa Potkin, He is going to be returned to something that he should have had on Nov. 27, when police encountered him, but he didnt: the presumption of innocence.. Help us advocate for the innocent by sharing the latest news from the Innocence Project. Finally home, Mr. Hicks said hes most proud of himself for staying strong and remaining determined to prove his innocence. Gutirrez, the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, and other visitors from outside the prison to the performance. On Wednesday afternoon, released from the State Correctional Institution Phoenix to his brothers home just a few miles away in Montgomery County, Hicks said he was both overjoyed and overwhelmed. It was hard to maintain sanity.. We may earn a commission from links on this page. Thank you for visiting us. 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. It was a chance for me to try to find out how God operates with us. After they covered it up, he was wrongly convicted of attacking her. Joint Stipulation of Mr. Hicks and the Commonwealth. The Philadelphia police did not immediately return a request for comment on the case, but Anthony Erace, the executive director of the Police Advisory Commission, told the Inquirer he would seek a review of the investigation. after a wrongful incarceration for 19 years. information about the Registry, Assault, Other Violent Felony, Gun Possession or Sale, Perjury or False Accusation, Official Misconduct, Inadequate Legal Defense. One of those plays, Soldiers in the Army of the Lord, was performed at Graterford in 2012 in honor of Hickss EfM graduation. WebTermaine Hicks was exonerated on December 16, 2020 after 19 years of wrongful incarceration. I liked how it was staggered, year one through four, he says. After realizing theyd shot an unarmed man who did not match the description of the attacker, the officers conspired to cover it up. Termaine Hicks was released from SCI Phoenix Prison Tuesday, Dec.16, 2020 in Collegeville, Penn. She began taking medication to try to help. He was exonerated after the Philadelphia District Attorneys Office conceded that lead police Latino leaders could collaborate with Black communities. TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA A federal grand jury has returned a twenty-one count indictment against Andrew Demetric Gillum, 42, and Sharon Janet Lettman-Hicks, Slichter invited the Rt. Baden testified that all shots were fired from behind Hicks, so he could not have been lunging at the officer who pulled the trigger. A jury believed the polices version of events over Hickss story. 2023 Innocence Project. Today Hicks serves alongside Slichter on the board for the Dennis H. Warner Memorial Foundation, which provides EfM scholarships for inmates and assists family members of the incarcerated. In 2016, the city paid $15,000 to settle a civil-rights lawsuit naming Vinson as one of two officers who dragged a taxi driver falsely accused of stealing a cell phone out of his cab, assaulted him, and told him if he did not like it, he could go back to his country., The Police Advisory Commissions executive director, Anthony Erace, said he was not familiar with Hicks case but would seek a review. At the time of his arrest, Hicks was an assistant manager at a South Philadelphia Popeyes, raising a 5-year-old son. Vinson and Zungolo remain employed by the department. According to her filings, the process of constructing a cover-up began immediately. However, police did not disclose the surveillance footage until after the trial. Termaine Hicks was released from SCI Phoenix Prison Tuesday, Dec.16, 2020 in Collegeville, Penn. The timing was uncanny. Prior to our interview, he had just given a talk for the Dutch Consulate at the United Nations in New York City. The website is updated daily, frequently with exonerations that occurred in the past. The cover up of shooting an innocent man required the false testimony of three officers and the acquiescence of a dozen more. During the trial a year later, the medical examiner would say he could not determine the direction from which the bullets that struck Hicks were fired. Dennis Zungolo, who testified he saw Hicks pulling up his pants when police arrived, were both placed on restricted duty, the spokesperson confirmed. Only Jesus can do this.you are blessed. Then the pandemic hit. Report an error or add more information about this case. But unlike in Wrights case, which was settled on the eve of a civil trial, the agreement in Hollmans case came before he had even filed suit. 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. In 2001, a police officer shot the 26-year-old Popeyes manager, later telling a court that Hicks reached for a gun after the officer found him raping a woman in a Philadelphia alleyway. The footage then shows a delivery van arriving, the flash of its headlights flooding the alley. What we are doing is just reintroducing simple life decision-making, Hicks explains. Someone grabbed her, dragged her into an alley and raped her at gunpoint. 21, 2020. But, seconds later, police officers arrived, took him for the rapist and shot him three times. Joe Rojas, the southeast regional vice president for the workers union, AFGE Council of Prisons, said the case was a black eye for an otherwise hardworking and upright staff. Uh-oh, overstock: Wayfair put their surplus on sale for up to 50% off. In this case, the new evidence came from Hickss clothing and his own body. An officerwho along with his complicit partner is still currently on the forcefirst shot Hicks three times while he was pulling out a cell phone to call for help for the rape victim. 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. IE 11 is not supported. One of the bullets that entered the back of his arm lodged in his chest, collapsing a lung and requiring emergency surgery. Theres plenty of us who would give him help. Hicks says Vinson muttered something like, damn, and then began to cry. The way that cops approach Black and brown men and women stems from years of systemic racism. Returning & Becoming: Kanuga Christian Formation, Episcopal Parish Network 38th Annual Conference, African American Readings of St. Paul with Dr. Lisa Bowens, Life Together Fellow, Church of Our Saviour, Milton, MA, Graduate Resident Youth or Childrens Minister. He wrote 12 plays and musicals while in prison and, now that hes free, he hopes to eventually produce and direct plays. Wanting to reach young people before fateful decisions are made, he began to produce videos on gun violence and bullying. Hicks says, In the judicial system, theres something called finality that is very hard to overcome.. This is my ministry, he says. Mr. Hicks, an Innocence Project client, was wrongly convicted of a rape that took place in Philadelphia in 2001. Is Wakanda Forever too woke for Marvels own good? Though EfM groups commonly gather in parish buildings, some convene in prisons. Had these records been publicly available, Mr. Hicks may not have had to endure so many years of injustice or been wrongly convicted at all, she said. In 2003, the Innocence Project had just 15 attorneys and could not take his case. Going back to the morning of the crime, the victim was not able to identify her assailant. After 19 years in prison, hes been found innocent. They lied under oath to cover up for shooting an innocent man three times in the back, Innocence Project lawyer Vanessa Potkin said. The conviction was vacated, and the charge dismissed. A spokesperson for the Philadelphia Police Department had not provided a comment as of Wednesday afternoon. But this settlement closes out a difficult chapter in my life as my family and I now embark on a new one.. Its a joyful day for me and my family, Mr. Hicks said after being released. Chester Hollman III was 21, with no criminal record and a job as an armored-car driver, when he was pulled over in Center City one night in 1991 and charged with the fatal shooting of a University of Pennsylvania student in a botched street robbery. During his 19 years in prison, Hicks noticed how new inmates entering into the penitentiary were younger and younger. A reporter at the Inquirer since 2013, I cover issues of identity, race, social justice, as well as prisons and the legal system. Then he pulled out the S.T.E.P.U.P. His brother Tone The world now knows what Hicks did and did not do. A police spokesperson said that the district attorney did not provide details on the allegations until after Hicks case was resolved. William Campbell, S.J. Hearing a scream pierce the darkness, he ran toward Dunkin Donuts and Saint Agnes Hospital. Termaine Hicks, 47, on West Girard Avenue in West Philadelphia on Dec. 2, 2022. 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. He said come sit, check it out. Hicks went to one session as a guest and was intrigued by the concept. But in recent years, evidence has piled up to suggest that the case presented by police and prosecutors was riddled with errors, the Inquirer reported. Termaine Hicks case marks the 16th exoneration since 2018 attributed to the Philadelphia District Attorneys Office Conviction Integrity Unit. His brother and friend greeted him upon release. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. Obviously, the worst part of these false convictions is that Black people are having enormous chunks of their lives stolen from them all because America is racist and its justice system reflects that, but the convictions are also a burden on taxpayers who end up footing the bill for settlements because they live in cities where law enforcement cares more about forcing guilty verdicts than they do about actually solving crimes. Hicks was not eligible for parole because he maintained his innocence and would not express remorse for a crime he did not commit. Termaine Hicks was released from SCI Phoenix Prison Tuesday, Dec.16, 2020 in Collegeville, Penn. Why dont they? Hicks calls the Innocence Project team relentless, God-sent, true advocates. Still, it would take nearly another decade to set Hicks free. You can learn more about how we consider cases here. In 2003, he was sentenced to 12.5 to 25 years in prison. The Innocence Project, which is affiliated with the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, took on Mr. Hicks case in 2011. Then a 26-year-old father of one, Mr. Hicks had been Hicks was released from a state prison outside Philadelphia on Wednesday. But as settlement conferences dragged on, the effects of her trauma worsened. That matched other witness statements that the attacker wore a gray hoodie, while Hicks coat had no hood. One was a 2015 lawsuit alleging that Vinson and another officer had dragged a taxi driver falsely accused of stealing a cell phone out of his cab and assaulted him. WebSettlement Agreement. She said Hicks had gone to the victim to render aid. Officer Martin Vinson, who testified that he fired because Hicks was reaching for a gun and lunging toward him, and his then-partner Sgt. But the prosecutors who reworked the case now say at least some of the testimony against Hicks was not true. How Education for Ministry changed Termaine Hicks life Trinity Episcopal Church Call: 304-263-0994 Address: 200 West King St, Martinsburg, WV Online Digital Services Donate Home About Trinity Worship Parish Life News & Events Contact Us Trinity Episcopal Church > Church > How Education for Ministry changed Termaine Hicks life Termaine Joseph Hicks was freed from prison in Philadelphia on Wednesday after serving 19 of 25 years on a trumped up conviction Hicks, now 45, was jailed in 2001 after Philadelphia cops Marvin Vinson and Sgt. The Innocence Project is affiliated with Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University. After the 5th Circuits ruling, does DACA have a future? He was sentenced to 12 and to 25 years in prison. Its unfortunate and sad that it took how long it took for me to clear my name.. As the case slowly made its way through the courts, she said she couldnt sleep through the night. 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. Im just sad because honestly those officers got away with a crime, Rojas said. Yale honors Black girl who was reported to police as she sprayed lanternfli Tyre Nichols videos join patchwork of violent police footage. She assumed the lights were police flashlights, but the enhanced footage suggested the light had instead been the delivery trucks headlights. Please avoid sharing any personal information in the comments below and join us in making this a hate-speech free and safe space for everyone. 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