Stories

After nearly 39 years of wrongful incarceration, Dawud Turner walked free from the Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution at Phoenix.

In February of 1987, Dawud Turner was arrested for the murder of Mario Martinez. Dawud was implicated by a single witness and wrongfully convicted even though no other evidence tied him to the crime.

The Project began working on Dawud’s case soon after we opened our doors in 2009. In 2012, we filed a DNA testing petition that the court granted. However, the testing did not yield conclusive results due to the age of the evidence. Our investigation continued when we asked the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office to take another look at the case. We uncovered previously undisclosed information and evidence of misconduct and brought new post-conviction claims for Dawud.

On Monday, the District Attorney’s Office filed a response recommending that the court grant relief based on new evidence and the constitutional violations that led to Dawud’s conviction. Yesterday, the court granted our petition and granted the DA’s motion to dismiss all charges.

Today, Dawud is finally free.

Dawud joins Project clients Chester Hollman III, John Miller, and Bobby Bees in obtaining relief after being wrongfully convicted in cases investigated by former Philadelphia Detective Jeffrey Piree, whom the DA’s office now considers “unreliable.”

Dawud’s loving niece and many longtime friends join us to welcome him home. We are grateful to all of the current and former Project staff members who have impacted Dawud’s case, including former senior staff attorney Amelia Maxfield, who continues to serve as co-counsel in her current role at the Exoneration Project. We are especially grateful for the supportive pro bono team at Ballard Spahr, who have been involved since our DNA motion years ago, especially litigation partner Thomas Hazlett, who has been an integral part of our team.

More of this story coming soon below! Welcome home, Dawud!!