Will Stokes Freed From Prison 37 Years After Wrongful Conviction
Police bribed a man with drugs and sex to give false testimony against the Philadelphia man.
A man has been released from prison 37 years after he was wrongfully convicted of a crime he says he never committed.
Will Stokes, 61, was handed a life sentence back in 1984 for the murder of Leslie Campbell in North Philadelphia four years earlier.
He was shacked up in prison for close to four decades and only learned in 2015 that the witness testimony given during his trial was falsified.
According to NPR, police offered Franklin Lee sex and drugs in exchange for giving damning evidence against Stokes.
Lee was promised a reduced sentenced in exchange for the false information as he was already facing unrelated rape and murder charges at the time.
He told police during a preliminary hearing that Stokes, who was a neighbourhood friend of Lee's, admitted to killing Campbell during a dice game, the Associated Press reports.
The false witness was charged with perjury just after Stokes was convicted and sent to jail. He received 35 years for his crimes and was only released from prison two years ago.
Lee was encouraged by his mother to fess up to lying to police about Stokes' crimes.
"Once I talked to my mother, she told me, 'I didn't raise you like that, to lie on a man because you got yourself in a jam,'" Lee explained, according to a transcript.
"She said, 'I couldn't care if they give you 1,000 years. Go in there and tell the truth.' And that's what I did."
Late last year, a hearing was held about Will Stokes' future in jail.
Magistrate Judge Carol Sandra Moore Wells explained how 'there is a reasonable probability that Stokes would have been acquitted without Lee's testimony and that the trial verdict is therefore unreliable'.
Following that hearing, Stokes was permitted to be released from prison.
His lawyer, Michael Diamondstein, said (via The Washington Post): "He took his first free breaths this afternoon after almost 40 years, and he is very happy and humbled.
"Today is a tremendous day. We're all very thankful.
"However, it's also a sad day, because it reminds us of how lawless, unfair and unjust Philadelphia law enforcement was for so long."
He revealed Will's first wish was to 'get a corned beef hoagie'.
Philadelphia's District Attorney's office will hold a hearing on January 26 to see whether they want to retry Will Stokes.
Featured Image Credit: NBCStewart Perrie