A former Philadelphia homicide detective was convicted by a jury for beating a suspect into confessing to a crime he didn’t commit—then lying about it in court. The cop, James Pitts was found guilty of obstruction and perjury, according to NBC Philadelphia,.
Prosecutors believed Pitts assaulted Obina Onyiah back in 2010, which led to Onyiah confessing to a robbery as well as the murder of William Glatz at a jewelry store. However, Onyiah was innocent.
In 2021, Onyiah’s conviction was vacated after evidence confirmed his innocence. This is the first time in the history of Philadelphia that a local detective was found guilty of coercing a confession that led to an innocent person being wrongfully convicted.
“I thank the jury for rendering a fair and just verdict in this case,” Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner stated. “My administration will continue to seek evenhanded justice in all cases prosecuted by this office, regardless of the defendant, because no one is above the law.”
Two gunmen tried to rob William Glatz at the Glatz Jewelry Store in the Lawncrest neighborhood on Oct. 21, 2010. Glatz and one of the suspects were killed during a subsequent shootout but the second suspect managed to flee the scene.
Pitts interrogated Onyiah in 2010 and physically assaulted him. Because of the assault, Onyiah falsely confessed to murdering Glatz. Pitts also lied about the interrogation while testifying under oath. The former detective was a crucial witness for the Commonwealth during Onyiah’s trial in 2013.
Onyiah unsuccessfully argued that his confession was coerced by Pitts, as Pitts denied assaulting Onyiah during both a pretrial motion and jury trial. And while Onyiah was wrongfully convicted in Glatz’s murder, the conviction was vacated when scientific evidence proved he wasn’t Glatz’s killer.
Pitts was ultimately arrested and charged in 2022 after a grand jury investigation. He is scheduled to be sentenced on October 4.