Philadelphia man released after 44 years in prison may face new trial

Franklin's case has been linked to a "Sex for Lies" scandal in which Philadelphia detectives granted criminal suspects access to a police interview room where they could be visited by wives, girlfriends or prostitutes in exchange for false accusations. Brandeis-Roman on Feb. 28 overturned Franklin's conviction after hearing the statements of two "Sex for Lies" witnesses who years later recanted their trial court testimony that framed Franklin and his co-defendant, Major Tillery.

William Franklin, recently released after serving 44 years in prison when his murder conviction was overturned, could face another trial as Philadelphia prosecutors press forward with their case.

The judge who freed him, however, seemed inclined to let Franklin to try to restart his life, suggesting Friday that she was open to loosening the rules on his home confinement and allow him to take a job at age 77. Franklin's 1980 conviction, based on tainted testimony, was overturned after the lone eyewitness against him recanted. His case dates to a high-crime era when police and prosecutors were so intent to sew up unsolved homicides that they coerced vulnerable witnesses to fabricate stories and frame innocent Black men.

Many such cases have been exposed by District Attorney Larry Krasner, a former defense attorney, since he was elected in Philadelphia in November 2017. Krasner's office has exonerated 43 wrongfully convicted prisoners - 38 of them Black, three Latino and two white. But Krasner's office has so far told the court it will seek a new trial for Franklin. A spokesperson for the District Attorney's Office declined to comment Friday.

During a hearing Friday, Franklin requested permission to leave his home to go daily to a job he has been offered helping former inmates reintegrate into their communities. "I have no doubt that he would really be able to help a lot of people," Common Pleas Court Judge Tracy Brandeis-Roman said in court. But she put off a decision to give prosecutors more time to consider after Joseph Duffy, an assistant to District Attorney Krasner, said he had only received the request the night before.

"He has not been exonerated," Duffy said, noting his office has appealed Brandeis-Roman's order overturning the conviction. "He still faces charges of first-degree murder." Franklin's defense attorney, Joe Marrone, had said he hoped prosecutors would drop the case on Friday. During Friday's hearing Marrone said prosecutors had little evidence on which to base a new trial.

Before the hearing, Franklin greeted Reginald Haines, a former parole officer who would be his boss if he were allowed to work at a program run by a group called Mothers in Charge. "I'm good, Reg," Franklin told him. "I just don't understand why they're fighting me. Everybody in the world sees that it's wrong."

Philadelphia's criminal justice system became known for "testilying," an insider's term made prominent by the Philadelphia Inquirer's investigative reporting, in which police and prosecutors manipulated witnesses into framing the innocent, then leveraged their commissions of perjury or other crimes to force them to stand by their stories. Franklin's case has been linked to a "Sex for Lies" scandal in which Philadelphia detectives granted criminal suspects access to a police interview room where they could be visited by wives, girlfriends or prostitutes in exchange for false accusations.

Brandeis-Roman on Feb. 28 overturned Franklin's conviction after hearing the statements of two "Sex for Lies" witnesses who years later recanted their trial court testimony that framed Franklin and his co-defendant, Major Tillery. BAD OLD DAYS

Matthew Barry Johnson, a professor at New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the practice of granting leniency to criminal suspects in exchange for testifying against others has long been a staple of the U.S. justice system - and quite often abused. The advent of progressive prosecutors like Krasner, DNA evidence and more scientific crime-fighting has reduced abuses and overturned convictions across the country, Johnson said.

"But it's still an uphill battle with the prevalent fears about crime that are always amplified, oftentimes by politicians," Johnson said. Franklin and his co-defendant Tillery were convicted of the 1976 poolroom shooting that killed Joseph Hollis and wounded John Pickens. Franklin said he had frequented the poolroom before but was not there at the time of the shooting.

Three and a half years passed without an arrest until police picked up Franklin based on the statement of Emmanuel Claitt, who would later tell the trial court that he saw Tillery kill Hollis and Franklin wound Pickens. But Claitt, who was in prison with several open cases against him when he first implicated Franklin and Tillery, told an investigator for Tillery in a 2016 videotaped statement that he lied at trial and was never at the poolroom. Police allowed him to use an interview room and hotels for sex with his girlfriends in exchange for the fabricated story, he said.

"If right is right, right will prevail because the DA knows that they lied and they got me to lie," Claitt said on the video. "And I want to free my conscience. I can't live with myself knowing I did that." Claitt died in 2020.

Judge Brandeis-Roman cited "Sex for Lies" and Claitt's statement in her decision to overturn Franklin's conviction. Defense attorney Marrone has helped or is working to exonerate other "Sex for Lies" victims, including Tillery.