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| Pa. Man Freed After Serving 28 Years Sues |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 04/07/2003 |
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A man freed after serving 28 years in prison for allegedly killing a 13-year-old friend filed a wrongful conviction lawsuit last week. 'Our contention is that Steven Crawford is innocent and the evidence used against him is false,' said Johnnie Cochran Jr., who is part of the defense team. Crawford, 46, maintained his innocence through three trials, all of which ended in convictions on first-degree murder, in the death of 13-year-old John Eddie Mitchell in 1970. Crawford was 14 at the time. Police found Mitchell's body under a car in a blood-spattered garage behind Crawford's home. The teenager had been beaten in the skull with a sledgehammer and robbed of the $32 he collected on his paper route that day, police said. Crawford was freed last year after the discovery of new evidence. Notes by a now-retired police chemist - found in a county detective's briefcase after he died - contradicted police testimony about blood particles on a hand print left by Crawford in the garage. The new evidence suggested that the print was old and Mitchell's blood was splashed across it, not that Crawford made the print while the blood was on his hand. The lawsuit names the state, Dauphin County and city of Harrisburg as well as the chemist, a state police trooper and the county detective's estate. All testified about the validity of the hand print evidence. The discovery of the notes prompted a judge last year to order a new trial. Prosecutors instead decided to drop the case. Prosecutors said they still believed that the hand print and other evidence pointed to Crawford, but that the victim's family did not want to endure a fourth trial. Besides wrongful conviction, the suit alleges Crawford's civil rights were violated and seeks at least $35,000. Cochran was part of the legal team that won the 1995 acquittal of O.J. Simpson. |
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