It was many years ago, 1991 in fact, when James “Shorty” Dennis was convicted of first degree murder in the killing of an attractive high school student named Shadel Williams. This was despite eyewitness evidence of his innocence, and also an alibi defense that, if true, would have proved it was impossible for Shorty to have committed the murder that he was charged with, convicted of, and sentenced to death by. It took 25 years for the highest court in Pennsylvania, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, to decide, in a mixed opinion, that what happened to him was unjust. For 25 years, Shorty sat, slept, ate, prayed, and almost faced death in a death row prison cell.
In March 2011, former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett signed a death warrant against Shorty. Thankfully, that death warrant was stayed, his execution was vacated, and a federal district judge, Anita Brody, decided that not only that his trial was unfair, but that he was actually innocent of the murder that he was convicted of. In a few short years thereafter, the Third Circuit and a panel of three reversed Judge Brody’s decision and reinstated not only the conviction but the death sentence. A few scant days ago, the full panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, 13 judges, well, actually nine out of 13, again reinstated habeas corpus relief and ordered him to be freed or retried within 90 days.
25 years. This is what hasn’t been in the reportage of this case. The prosecutor, his name was Roger King. He died recently, and prosecutors praised him as a prosecutor’s prosecutor, a mentor to young prosecutors, a DA the city should be proud of. No one mentioned that he convicted an innocent man and did so knowingly, using false testimony, false evidence, and hiding evidence of his innocence. That’s the real world. As we speak, James “Shorty” Dennis is still in a death row cell in Greene County, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, waiting for his fate. From in prison nation, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.
These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
