243:. The letter landed on the desk of Lauren Lipscomb, a prosecutor who led the unit for wrongful convictions. She re-investigated the case due to the trio insisting on their innocence during the entirety of their imprisonment. She thought the case against the trio was strong, but she noticed that, when cross-examined, the witnesses could not testify to any details beyond their claim that the trio did it. In June, she received another letter from Chestnut with the investigative reports.
206:. The afternoon of the funeral, Kincaid was informed of another potential witness, a 13-year-old girl who was interviewed in a conference room and identified Chestnut, Stewart, and Watkins. That evening, officers picked up Bishop without his parents. He was placed in a small room with Kincaid and a photo array. Kincaid was accusatory and threatened that Bishop would not be allowed to leave and could be charged with being an
175:
jacket, was approached by an armed man and two other people and asked to take off his jacket. While
Duckett was taking off his jacket, the man pointed his gun at the students with Duckett, who ran away. As they were running away, the man shot Duckett in the right side of his neck. The two people with
201:
Soon after taking their pictures, Kincaid went to Bishop's house and showed him 11 pictures of potential suspects. He recognized
Chestnut, Stewart, and Watkins from elementary school but did not single out a suspect. This repeated twice. Duckett's funeral was held and was attended by then-Councilman
192:
After
Duckett's death, the primary witness was Ron Bishop, one of the students with Duckett when he was murdered. School staff also reported that three non-student 16-year-olds, Alfred Chestnut, Andrew Stewart, and Ransom Watkins, were in the building earlier in the day. The murder investigation was
197:
detective Donald
Kincaid. The day after the shooting, Kincaid went to Chestnut's and Watkins's houses for questioning. Chestnut was wearing a Georgetown jacket during the questioning, and they both maintained their innocence and Chestnut stated the jacket was his. Kincaid took pictures of all three
234:
In 2018, Chestnut, following years of attempts, received the investigative reports from
Duckett's murder. He noticed one of the leads said that a person named Michael Willis, who had been shot dead in 2002, was reported to have been at the school when the murder happened, was armed, and wore a
261:
On
November 22, 2019, Mosby, alongside Lipscomb, visited the trio in their prisons to announce that they were freed. Three days later, they were taken to a courthouse where Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Charles Peters apologized to the trio and set them free. In March 2020, the
164:
Around 1:25 pm on Friday, November 18, 1983, 14-year-old ninth grader DeWitt
Duckett, alongside two other students, was walking to the cafeteria of Harlem Park Junior High School through a quiet hallway. While going to the cafeteria, Duckett, who was wearing a
257:
On August 8, 2019, he walked into
Lipscomb's office and told about how his friend was killed, how he had been threatened by Kincaid, and how he lied in court. The other witnesses were interviewed, and they all confessed that they were coerced by Kincaid.
287:
When they sent us to prison as teenagers, they stole our lives from us. They took our families from us. They took our childhoods. This lawsuit can't bring back everything we lost, but it's an important step as we try to move forward and heal.
176:
the man walked away and did not participate in the robbery or shooting. After being shot, Duckett ran upstairs, through the cafeteria, and collapsed in front of the doors to the administration offices. He was taken to the
657:
592:
125:
were a trio of
American students, Alfred Chestnut, Andrew Stewart, and Ransom Watkins, who were falsely accused of murdering ninth grader DeWitt Duckett at Harlem Park Junior High School in the
690:
214:(November 24), they were arrested on charges of murder, armed robbery, and handgun violations. On May 28, 1984, Chestnut, Stewart, and Watkins were all found guilty of felony murder.
302:, Kincaid, and two other police officers, accusing them of coercing statements to support a manufactured narrative. In 2023, the Baltimore Board of Estimates approved a
765:
720:
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747:
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if Bishop did not tell who did it. A total of four witnesses (including Bishop) said that
Chestnut, Stewart, and Watkins did the murder. The next day,
555:
373:
926:
680:
809:
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I’m tired of living this lie, that those three guys did it. If I have to tell the truth and it sends me to prison, I’ll go to prison.
931:
740:
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540:
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between the trio and the Baltimore Police Department, the largest in Baltimore's history. In the settlement, the trio receives
505:
472:
439:
406:
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556:"Maryland spending panel votes to pay $ 8.7 million to three men recently exonerated after each spent 36 years in prison"
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946:
799:
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137:. They served 36 years in prison before being exonerated in 2019. After being exonerated, the trio sued the
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681:"Baltimore spending board approves $ 48 million settlement for wrongful conviction of 'Harlem Park Three'"
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756:
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jacket to a skating rink later that day. In 2019, Chestnut sent a five-page letter to State's Attorney
246:
In the summer, Bishop, who was now 50 years old, received a letter from Mosby's office about the case
921:
250:. The letter frightened Bishop who initially did not respond, thinking that he could be arrested for
789:
784:
779:
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648:"Baltimore board approves $ 48 million settlement for 'Harlem Park Three' wrongful conviction"
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172:
794:
652:
619:
535:
304:
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8:
207:
614:
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911:
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in 2020, accusing the department of coercing witness statements. In 2023, they
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62:
725:
900:
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496:"Jury find 3 guilty in school slaying after deliberating less than 3 hours"
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and was pronounced dead at 3 PM. It was the first murder in the history of
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462:
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or a fabricated crime, but he convinced himself that he would respond.
885:
130:
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Valera, Dennis; Mattu, Rohan; Thompson, Adam (October 18, 2023).
587:
685:
583:"'Harlem Park 3' file federal lawsuit against Baltimore police"
281:
Lawsuit against the Baltimore Police Department and settlement
615:"Three men exonerated in 1983 murder file federal lawsuit"
277:
to each of the three men following their exoneration.
531:"3 Maryland men exonerated after 36 years in prison"
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Fletcher, Michael; Birch, Doug (November 19, 1983).
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298:In 2020, after being exonerated, the trio sued the
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156:, the largest settlement in Baltimore history.
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394:
397:"Police hunting suspect in murder at school"
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324:each and their attorneys receive a total of
937:Overturned convictions in the United States
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810:Murders of Keona Holley and Justin Johnson
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734:
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16:American trio wrongfully convicted in 1984
463:"3 teenagers charged in Harlem Park case"
430:"3 youths charged in slaying over jacket"
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342:
427:
362:Gonnerman, Jennifer (October 25, 2021).
841:Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
493:
428:Fletcher, Michael (November 24, 1983).
927:Police misconduct in the United States
899:
645:
543:from the original on October 22, 2023.
460:
729:
721:Interview between the trio and WJZ-TV
693:from the original on October 21, 2023
660:from the original on October 21, 2023
627:from the original on October 21, 2023
595:from the original on October 21, 2023
508:from the original on October 22, 2023
475:from the original on October 22, 2023
442:from the original on October 22, 2023
409:from the original on October 22, 2023
13:
554:Broadwater, Luke (March 4, 2020).
461:McCord, Joel (November 25, 1983).
178:R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center
14:
958:
709:
646:Willis, Adam (October 18, 2023).
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376:from the original on May 22, 2023
932:1983 crimes in the United States
800:William King and Antonio Murray
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494:Banisky, Sandy (May 29, 1984).
248:State v. Alfred Chestnut, et al
202:and future U.S. Representative
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264:Maryland Board of Public Works
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182:Baltimore City Public Schools
848:Homicide: Life on the Street
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942:Baltimore Police Department
757:Baltimore Police Department
314:settlement outside of court
300:Baltimore Police Department
195:Baltimore Police Department
139:Baltimore Police Department
34:False conviction for murder
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133:in 1983 and sentenced to
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364:"When a Witness Recants"
160:Murder of DeWitt Duckett
790:Killing of Freddie Gray
785:Baltimore police strike
780:2015 Baltimore protests
188:Investigation and trial
947:Harlem Park, Baltimore
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226:
766:List of commissioners
539:. November 25, 2019.
293:Alfred Chestnut, 2020
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237:Georgetown University
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173:Georgetown University
795:Gun Trace Task Force
653:The Baltimore Banner
620:The Associated Press
536:The Associated Press
193:assigned to veteran
623:. August 13, 2020.
591:. August 13, 2020.
208:accessory to murder
917:1980s in Baltimore
716:The trio's lawsuit
471:. pp. 1, 16.
894:
893:
805:Harlem Park Three
561:The Baltimore Sun
504:. pp. 1, 4.
501:The Baltimore Sun
468:The Baltimore Sun
405:. pp. 1, 2.
123:Harlem Park Three
119:
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111:November 24, 1983
25:Harlem Park Three
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922:1983 in Maryland
869:We Own This City
855:Serial, Season 1
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31:Known for
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212:Thanksgiving
204:Kweisi Mfume
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697:October 21,
664:October 21,
631:October 21,
599:October 21,
567:October 31,
512:October 21,
479:October 21,
446:October 21,
413:October 20,
380:October 20,
218:Exoneration
127:Harlem Park
95:Location(s)
901:Categories
827:Charm City
336:References
198:suspects.
42:Exonerated
886:Espantoon
131:Baltimore
100:Baltimore
912:Coercion
862:The Wire
691:Archived
658:Archived
625:Archived
593:Archived
541:Archived
506:Archived
473:Archived
440:Archived
407:Archived
374:Archived
318:US$ 14.9
88:Maryland
83:State(s)
879:Related
588:WBAL-TV
330:million
326:US$ 3.3
322:million
311:million
275:million
154:million
143:settled
74:Country
69:Details
59:Penalty
773:Events
686:WJZ-TV
328:
320:
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273:
152:
907:Trios
819:Media
699:2023
666:2023
633:2023
601:2023
569:2023
514:2023
481:2023
448:2023
415:2023
382:2023
305:US$
269:US$
168:US$
148:US$
145:for
121:The
271:2.9
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.