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January 31, 2022

Man Sues After Being Locked Up for 37 Years on Recanted, Bribed Testimony
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A Pennsylvania man who was cleared of a murder conviction and released
from prison after 37 years has filed a lawsuit accusing the city of
Philadelphia of "outrageous police misconduct." Willie Stokes, an
African American man, was convicted of murder in 1984. The two
detectives who were involved in the case are accused of offering sex and
drugs to a witness in exchange for false testimony against Stokes. The
witness, who recanted his accusation during the murder trial, was
charged with perjury just days after Stokes was convicted. But Stokes
didn't have access to this information until 2015 - decades into his
life sentence. Stokes was released from prison earlier this month, and
his murder conviction was formally dismissed last Thursday.


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