Campus News
Exonerated Death Row Inmate
(Continued from Bulletin home page)
More than 16 years after a Pennsylvania jury returned three death
sentences against Harold Wilson, new DNA evidence helped lead to his
acquittal. On Nov. 15, 2005, Wilson became the nation’s 122nd person
freed from death row, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
During his 1989 capital trial, Wilson was prosecuted by former Philadelphia
Assistant District Attorney Jack McMahon, a man best known for his role
in a training video that advised new Philadelphia prosecutors on how
to use race in selecting death penalty juries.
In 1999, Wilson’s death sentence was overturned when a court
determined that his defense counsel had failed to investigate and present
mitigating evidence during his original trial. A later appeal led the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court to call for a new hearing because of evidence
that McMahon used racially discriminatory practices in jury selection.
In 2003, a trial court found that McMahon had improperly exercised his
peremptory strikes to eliminate potential black jurors and granted Wilson
a new trial, a decision that the District Attorney’s office did
not appeal.
The court stated that in the new trial the death penalty could not be sought. The jury in this most recent trial acquitted Wilson of all charges, after new DNA evidence revealed blood from the crime scene that did not come from Wilson or any of the victims, a finding suggesting the involvement of another assailant. With his family in the courtroom, Wilson wept as the jury read the verdict.
Since his release, Wilson has been a passionate advocate against the death penalty and for reform of the criminal justice system. He has spoken at numerous venues, including the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University Law School, Johns Hopkins University, the Amnesty International Delaware state conference, the Wisconsin State Capitol, and at the Fast & Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty at the United States Supreme Court.