Scoop: Philly man wrongfully convicted as a teen sues city and police
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A Philadelphia man convicted of murder two decades ago as a teen but exonerated in 2023 is suing over his wrongful conviction.
The big picture: David Sparks, whose case was featured in an Inquirer investigation in 2018, is among at least 41 exonerees in Philly who have been cleared of wrongdoing in the last eight years.
- Many of the convictions were overturned because of allegations of police misconduct, per the lawsuit.
The latest: In his federal lawsuit against the city and more than a dozen members of the Philadelphia Police Department, Sparks, 35, alleges that his wrongful conviction resulted from "extraordinary misconduct."
- Sparks is accusing police of making critical mistakes that tainted their investigation into a fatal shooting at a Labor Day block party in Nicetown in 2006.
- He alleges detectives coerced witnesses into implicating him in the murder of 19-year-old Gary Hall, and withheld evidence that suggested another teenager was the shooter.
What they're saying: Police homicide detectives had "free reign to engage in unconstitutional actions with the knowledge and acquiescence of city policymakers and PPD Homicide Division supervisors and command staff, all of whom were deliberately indifferent to this misconduct," Sparks' lawyers wrote in the complaint.
- Sparks is seeking unspecified damages and attorney fees to compensate him for the more than 15 years he spent behind bars.
- He "looks forward to finally obtaining some measure of accountability," Sparks' attorney, Grace Harris, told Axios in a statement.
The other side: The Philadelphia Police Department referred Axios to the city Law Department, which declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Context: Sparks, one of many teens at the scene during the 2006 shooting, was 16 years old when he was charged in Hall's murder.
- Sparks had called 911 shortly after gunshots rang out to report that Hall had been shot and needed medical attention, per the lawsuit.
- Sparks was convicted at a bench trial in 2008, sentenced to life in prison, and spent years fighting to prove his innocence.
- The Innocence Project took on his case in 2014 and worked to obtain evidence that showed police detectives were told someone else was responsible for the homicide.
- A judge vacated Sparks' conviction in 2023, and prosecutors dismissed the case.
Zoom in: After the shooting, one of the police supervisors at the scene ordered officers to conduct curfew checks on the teenagers present at the block party, instead of instructing them to interview the dozens of potential witnesses, per the lawsuit.
- Many teens left the area without speaking to police in order to avoid being issued curfew citations, the suit states.
- Still, several people told police that another teenager at the party, Ivan Simmons, had shot Hall after he argued with Simmons' brother, the suit alleges.
- Simmons was killed three months later as part of what the lawsuit describes as a string of retaliatory shootings stemming from Hall's murder.
Zoom out: Philadelphia has paid $116 million between 2016 and 2022 to settle police misconduct claims.
- The Inquirer reported last year that there was an uptick in recent payouts because several wrongful conviction cases were settled around the same time.