Entries tagged with “Larry Krasner”

Issues

Mar 01, 2024

Death-Sentenced Philadelphia Prisoner Daniel Gwynn Exonerated After Nearly 30 Years

On February 27, 2024, Common Pleas Court Judge Barbara A. McDermott approved a motion from the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office to dis­miss first-degree mur­der, arson, and aggra­vat­ed assault charges against 54-year-old death-sen­­tenced pris­on­er Daniel Gwynn. Mr. Gwynn is the 197th per­son exon­er­at­ed after being sen­tenced to death since 1973, accord­ing to DPIC’s Innocence Database.​“Today is most­ly for us a day of tremen­dous relief and sad­ness, a guy like him, an innocent…

Issues

Aug 16, 2021

NBC’s ​‘Dateline’ Investigates the Wrongful Capital Conviction of Death-Row Exoneree Walter Ogrod

NBC’s true crime series, Dateline, fea­tured an episode on August 13, 2021 on the wrong­ful con­vic­tion and even­tu­al exon­er­a­tion of for­mer Philadelphia death-row pris­on­er Walter Ogrod (pic­tured). The episode, enti­tled​“The Investigation,” is part of an NBC News series called​“Justice for All” that reports on wrong­ful con­vic­tions and the U.S.

Research

May 20, 2021

In Election Seen as Referendum on Reform Prosecutors, Larry Krasner Renominated for Second Term as Philadelphia District Attorney

In a pri­ma­ry elec­tion wide­ly con­sid­ered a ref­er­en­dum on reform pros­e­cu­tors, incum­bent Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner eas­i­ly secured a vic­to­ry against for­mer Philadelphia homi­cide pros­e­cu­tor Carlos Vega. Krasner won the May 18, 2021 elec­tion on a plat­form of con­tin­u­ing the reform he began four years ago when he was first elect­ed: eschew­ing use of the death penal­ty, ini­ti­at­ing sys­temic crim­i­nal justice reforms,…

Issues

Mar 06, 2020

Philadelphia D.A. Says Death-Row Prisoner Walter Ogrod is ​‘Likely Innocent’

After a review of the case by its Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU), the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office has told a state tri­al court that death-row pris­on­er Walter Ogrod (pic­tured) is​“like­ly inno­cent,” that new­ly dis­cov­ered evi­dence showed that city pros­e­cu­tors had vio­lat­ed his right to due process, and that his con­vic­tion and death sentence…

Issues

New Voices

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Jul 18, 2019

Philadelphia District Attorney Asks Pennsylvania Supreme Court to Strike Down State’s Death Penalty

Citing race dis­par­i­ties, inef­fec­tive rep­re­sen­ta­tion by court-appoint­ed lawyers, and arbi­trary case out­comes, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office has asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to strike down the state’s death penal­ty. In a brief filed on July 15, 2019 in the con­sol­i­dat­ed appeals of Philadelphia death-row pris­on­er Jermont Cox and Northumberland County​’s Kevin Marinelli,…

Issues

Nov 16, 2018

DPIC Analysis: The Decline of the Death Penalty in Philadelphia

During his elec­tion cam­paign, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner described the eco­nom­ic waste­ful­ness of city pros­e­cu­tors’ pur­suit of the death penal­ty as​“light­ing mon­ey on fire.” A DPIC analy­sis of the out­comes of the more than 200 death sen­tences imposed in the city since 1978 (click here to enlarge image) and the last sev­en years of cap­i­tal pros­e­cu­tion out­comes pro­vides strong sup­port for Krasner’s…

Research

Jan 04, 2018

Pledging No Death Penalty, Larry Krasner Sworn In As Philadelphia’s District Attorney

Saying “[a] move­ment was sworn in today,” long-time civ­il-rights lawyer Larry Krasner (pic­tured) — who pledged to end Philadelphia’s use of the death penal­ty — took the oath of office on January 2 as dis­trict attor­ney in a coun­ty that only five years ago had the third largest death row of any county…

Issues

New Voices

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Nov 09, 2017

Anti-Death Penalty District Attorney Elected in Philadelphia, the Nation’s 3rd Largest Death Penalty County

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania—the nation’s third largest death-penal­­ty coun­ty—has elect­ed as its new dis­trict attor­ney a can­di­date who ran on a plat­form of end­ing mass incar­cer­a­tion and eschew­ing use of the death penal­ty. Democrat Lawrence Krasner (pic­tured), a long­time civ­il rights lawyer and oppo­nent of the death penal­ty, who once joked that he’d​“spent a career becom­ing completely unelectable,”…

May 17, 2017

Reform Candidate Who Opposes Death Penalty Wins Democratic Nomination for Philadelphia District Attorney

In a repu­di­a­tion of the city’s past his­to­ry as one of the nation’s lead­ing pro­duc­ers of death sen­tences, Philadelphia has joined the trend of major nation­al juris­dic­tions to select reform can­di­dates who have pledged to lim­it or elim­i­nate use of the death penal­ty. On May 16, pri­ma­ry vot­ers in the over­whelm­ing­ly Democratic city select­ed long-time civ­il rights lawyer Lawrence Krasner (pic­tured) as the Democratic nom­i­nee for District…