Current:Home > InvestMan exonerated on Philadelphia murder charge 17 years after being picked up for violating curfew-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Man exonerated on Philadelphia murder charge 17 years after being picked up for violating curfew
View Date:2024-12-23 20:41:18
An exonerated man walked free on Monday night more than a decade after he was wrongfully convicted for a Philadelphia murder, officials said.
David Sparks, then 16, was initially picked up by police for violating a teen curfew on Sept. 4, 2006, the night 19-year-old Gary Hall was killed. Sparks was found guilty in Hall's shooting death two years later. The exonerated man, now in his 30s, was released from prison on Monday night.
"He walked free from the Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution at Phoenix last night into the arms of his loving family and legal team," the Pennsylvania Innocence Project wrote in a social media post about Sparks. "David was just 16 years old at the time of his arrest and is excited to do the everyday things so many of us take for granted."
The Philadelphia District Attorney's Conviction Integrity Unit said it found Sparks' constitutional rights at trial had been violated. Information from witnesses implicating Ivan Simmons, also a teen, as a suspect in Halls' death was suppressed by Philadelphia Police Homicide detectives. Simmons and his brother were also considered suspects in the murder of Larres Curry, just a few days earlier one block away.
Multiple witnesses had seen Simmons at the scene of the murder, but Simmons, unlike Sparks, fled and "evaded detention for the curfew violation that ensnared Sparks," according to the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office.
Simmons was shot and killed in December 2006, just as Sparks was awaiting his preliminary hearing in Hall's death.
Investigators believe Simmons was killed as part of a series of retaliatory shootings between two rival groups.
One eyewitness of the Hall murder, who was not interviewed by police at the time of the deadly shooting, was arrested and charged with committing a 2007 quadruple shooting of four Hall associates. During his confession, Nick Walker explained how the cycle of retaliatory shootings started.
"This happened right after Ivan killed Gary," Walker said about Simmons. "Money was on my head because I would hang with Ivan."
The assistant district attorney on Sparks' trial also told the Conviction Integrity Unit that notes and documents implicating Simmons were not shared with him, officials said. He told them that he "did not understand why the police did not make them available to him."
Sparks had called 911 from the scene of Hall's murder, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported in 2018. He's heard on the call reporting the shooting and asking first responders to "hurry up."
During Sparks' trial, prosecutors relied primarily on two teenage witnesses — cousins who were 14 and 16 at the time of at the time of Hall's murder. They gave inconsistent statements about the crime and Sparks' and Simmons' involvement. Officials did not specify what the inconsistencies were in the news release about Sparks' exoneration. One of the witnesses has since recanted much of her testimony against Sparks.
Hall had graduated from high school shortly before his death, Conviction Integrity Unit supervisor Michael Garmisa said. He'd been looking to get into the carpentry business.
"He and his loved ones, and all victims of violence, deserve a criminal legal system that seeks to avoid such devastating errors," Garmisa said.
- In:
- Wrongful Convictions
- Homicide
- Philadelphia
Aliza Chasan is a digital producer at 60 Minutes and CBS News.
TwitterveryGood! (77239)
Related
- Queen Elizabeth II's Final 5-Word Diary Entry Revealed
- 5 Things podcast: Palestinians flee as Gaza braces for attack, GOP nominates Jim Jordan
- Medicare shoppers often face a barrage of unsolicited calls and aggressive ads
- Surfer suffers leg injury in possible shark attack at beach near San Francisco, police say
- Jennifer Lopez Gets Loud in Her First Onstage Appearance Amid Ben Affleck Divorce
- Ford Executive Chair Bill Ford gets involved in union contract talks during an uncommon presentation
- Banker who got into double trouble for claiming 2 meals on expenses loses UK lawsuit over firing
- 5 Things podcast: Blinken says Arab leaders don't want spillover from Israel-Hamas war
- Cold case arrest: Florida man being held in decades-old Massachusetts double murder
- Katy Perry Weighs In on Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Hard Launch
Ranking
- Jordan Chiles Reveals She Still Has Bronze Medal in Emotional Update After 2024 Olympics Controversy
- Buffalo Bills running back Damien Harris has full movement after on-field neck injury, coach says
- Lake Erie breaks world record for most waterspouts in a 24-hour period, researchers say
- Lake Erie breaks world record for most waterspouts in a 24-hour period, researchers say
- Lala Kent Swears by This Virgo-Approved Accessory and Shares Why Stassi Schroeder Inspires Her Fall Style
- Lawyers and judge hash out juror questions for Powell and Chesebro trial in Georgia election case
- With homelessness high, California tries an unorthodox solution: Tiny house villages
- Italy approves 24 billion-euro budget that aims to boost household spending and births
Recommendation
-
Celtics' Jaylen Brown calls Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo a 'child' over fake handshake
-
College athletes are fighting to get a cut from the billions they generate in media rights deals
-
Mary Lou Retton's Family Shares Remarkable Update Amid Gymnast's Battle With Rare Illness
-
Australian safety watchdog fines social platform X $385,000 for not tackling child abuse content
-
Hurricane-damaged Tropicana Field can be fixed for about $55M in time for 2026 season, per report
-
Hezbollah destroys Israeli surveillance cameras along the Lebanese border as tension soars
-
Windy conditions cancel farewell mass ascension at Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
-
A Frequent Culprit, China Is Also an Easy Scapegoat