$9.1 million wrongful conviction settlement for Pennsylvania death row exoneree Walter Ogrod

Death-row exoneree Walter Ogrod’s fed­er­al law­suit against the City of Philadelphia and mem­bers of the Philadelphia Police Department was set­tled for $9.1 mil­lion on November 3, 2023. Mr. Ogrod, who was exon­er­at­ed in 2020 after 23 years on death row, was ini­tial­ly con­vict­ed in 1996 based on a coerced con­fes­sion and false tes­ti­mo­ny from jail­house infor­mants in a case fur­ther taint­ed by police and pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct and inad­e­quate legal rep­re­sen­ta­tion at tri­al. 

In a state­ment con­firm­ing the set­tle­ment, offi­cials said ​“The city remains com­mit­ted to trans­paren­cy in the pur­suit of jus­tice. Although the city’s set­tle­ment is not a find­ing of wrong­do­ing by any par­ty, the city rec­og­nizes the pain and bur­den to all par­ties that con­tin­ued lit­i­ga­tion of this law­suit would bring. The city hopes that this res­o­lu­tion can be a just result for all those affect­ed, and our hearts remain with the fam­i­ly of Barbara Jean Horn as they con­tin­ue to seek jus­tice for their loved one.” 

“This lit­i­ga­tion was a long and hard-fought bat­tle that result­ed in a sig­nif­i­cant set­tle­ment that will give Walter Ogrod the eco­nom­ic sup­port he needs as he con­tin­ues re-estab­lish­ing his life. He remains opti­mistic about his future and is com­mit­ted to fight­ing for his fel­low inmates who have also been wrong­ful­ly con­vict­ed,” said Joseph Marrone, attor­ney for Mr. Ogrod, at a press con­fer­ence on November 6, 2023. 

Mr. Ogrod was accused of the 1988 killing of 4‑year-old Barbara Jean Horn. Following Mr. Ogrod’s exon­er­a­tion in 2020, the Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Carrie Wood stat­ed that ​“We not only stole 28 years of your life, but we threat­ened to exe­cute you based on false­hoods.” The moth­er of the vic­tim, Sharon Fahy, believed Mr. Ogrod’s inno­cence and agreed with his exon­er­a­tion, stat­ing that ​“All we want­ed was the truth.” 

Pennsylvania is one of 12 states with­out a law that com­pen­sates wrong­ful­ly con­vict­ed peo­ple. Currently under con­sid­er­a­tion in the Pennsylvania state house, is HB 1470, which would pro­vide $100,000 for each year of wrong­ful incar­cer­a­tion on death row, $75,000 for each year of wrong­ful incar­cer­a­tion out­side death row, and $50,000 for each year of wrong­ful parole or pro­ba­tion. DPIC’s Innocence Database includes 11 exon­er­a­tions from Pennsylvania, 5 of them occur­ring since 2019.