Two weeks after a Cook County decide overturned his homicide conviction, Darien Harris is anticipated to be a free man once more after prosecutors stated Tuesday they won’t retry him in a deadly capturing at a South Side fuel station.
Harris was an 18-year-old highschool senior with a clear felony file when prosecutors charged him in an ambush-style assault that left one man lifeless and one other critically injured in June 2011. His conviction was based mostly partly on the testimony of an eyewitness who turned out to be legally blind.
Now 30, Harris has spent the final 12 years behind bars combating for a brand new trial. He has lengthy maintained his innocence, saying he was at house watching LeBron James play within the NBA finals between the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks.
Outside of courtroom Tuesday, his mom stated she will’t watch for her son to satisfy his 5-year-old sister and have fun the vacations along with his household. She additionally thanked supporters, together with the Rev. Corey Brooks and neighborhood activist Ja’Mal Green, in addition to her son’s authorized group and God.
“I’m so excited right now. I don’t even have the words to explain how grateful I am,” Nakesha Harris informed the Tribune. “This will be his first Christmas with all his siblings in 12 years. He has a 5-year-old sister that he hasn’t met. This will be the best Christmas ever.”
Her son was serving a 76-year jail time period after a decide discovered him responsible of first-degree homicide, tried first-degree homicide and aggravated battery with a firearm following a 2014 bench trial.
Prosecutors lacked bodily proof linking Harris to the capturing, however now-retired Judge Nicholas Ford stated on the time that he based mostly his ruling totally on the testimony of Dexter Saffold, a person who testified that he witnessed the capturing whereas on his method house from a fast-food restaurant.
The decide was unaware through the trial that Saffold was legally blind as a consequence of glaucoma, in accordance with Harris’ legal professional, Lauren Myerscough-Mueller. She had argued in courtroom filings that Harris was wrongfully convicted based mostly on mistaken eyewitness testimony and police misconduct.
Saffold testified that he was driving his motorized scooter north on Stony Island Avenue close to the fuel station when he heard gunshots and noticed somebody about 18 ft from him aiming a handgun at an individual close to a automotive with its hood up. He might see the muzzle flashes and heard greater than two gunshots, Saffold testified. He additionally stated the shooter ran into him whereas working away, almost dropping the gun whereas making an attempt to place it right into a pocket.
Saffold picked Harris out of a police lineup and likewise recognized him in courtroom through the 2014 trial.
Saffold’s eyesight got here up solely briefly through the trial, courtroom information present. Harris’ unique legal professional requested Saffold if his diabetes affected his imaginative and prescient. He replied sure, then paused and adjusted his reply, denying he had imaginative and prescient issues.
But Saffold’s physician had deemed him legally blind some 9 years earlier than the homicide, information present. As a part of Harris’ 2022 post-conviction petition, his authorized group cited medical information courting to 2002 that Saffold had publicly filed in numerous lawsuits relating to his incapacity. Harris’ attorneys additionally introduced to the courtroom an skilled opinion from an ophthalmologist relating to Saffold’s impaired imaginative and prescient.
On Dec. 5, Cook County prosecutors agreed with Harris’ post-conviction request to vacate his conviction and sentence, clearing the way in which for a brand new trial. But on Tuesday prosecutors informed Cook County Judge Diana Kenworthy they’d determined to drop all fees.
“Upon further review of the totality of the evidence the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (CCSAO) has decided against retrying the case against Darien Harris,” in accordance with an announcement launched by the workplace of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. “We remain committed to the work of justice in the pursuit of safe and healthy communities.”
About a dozen members of Harris’ household attended the transient courtroom listening to, together with his mom, spouse, siblings and different kinfolk. Myerscough-Mueller and Harris’ mom stated they anticipate him to be free of the county jail by Tuesday night. When requested how they are going to have fun his first day of freedom, his mom stated: “I’m sure change into his new clothes and eat some real food and see his siblings.”
Myerscough-Mueller stated Darien Harris was per week away from commencement in 2011 when arrested. She stated he has obtained his GED, labored jobs and accomplished different academic applications whereas incarcerated. She stated he hopes to proceed his schooling and transfer “someplace warm” sooner or later.
“He spent his formative years in prison,” stated Myerscough-Mueller, an legal professional with the Exoneration Project on the University of Chicago Law School. “He’s still pretty young, so the good news is he has time to build a really beautiful life. We’re very grateful to Kim Foxx’s office for doing the right thing. … I think Kim Foxx herself looked at the case and determined it was not something they would stand behind, given the evidence, that justice demanded this action.”
The sufferer within the capturing, 23-year-old Rondell Moore, had pulled right into a fuel station in Woodlawn due to automotive troubles after 8 p.m. on June 7, 2011. Moore put up the automotive’s hood to examine the issue, assisted by a neighborhood mechanic who arrived on the station on his bike shortly afterward. Moore’s older brother and a pal additionally have been there.
The station’s surveillance system didn’t seize the capturing, however prosecutors stated the video did present a person strolling away from a black Lexus and across the fuel station constructing towards the realm the place the capturing occurred, then working away shortly afterward. The video confirmed a person whose skinny construct and quick coiffure usually match Harris, however the suspect’s face was not seen.
Moore, who was shot 3 times, ran from the fuel station and died in a close-by parking zone. The 51-year-old mechanic survived bullet wounds to his again and an arm.
Though prosecutors beforehand maintained they’d credible proof from different eyewitnesses that pointed to Harris’ guilt, Myerscough-Mueller alleged police misconduct performed a task in these identifications. She stated the alleged getaway driver, who has since died, took the stand throughout Harris’ trial and recanted his preliminary identification of Harris. He stated Harris was by no means in his automotive and law enforcement officials coerced him into making a false identification, in accordance with courtroom information.
The police detectives additionally testified on the 2014 trial, denying they pressured the person to establish Harris.
Harris’ attorneys stated in courtroom information that they’ve uncovered proof figuring out the precise shooter as one other teenager who was killed a number of months later, additionally throughout an ambush-style capturing at a South Side fuel station.
Myerscough-Mueller stated a fuel station worker who didn’t testify throughout Harris’ 2014 trial has recognized that man — not Harris — because the shooter within the earlier incident. The worker alleged police tried to coerce him into making a false identification, in accordance with the legal professional.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com