PHILADELPHIA — In the 37 years since Willie Stokes was tried for murder, the star witness against him has insisted that his police statement that Stokes had confessed to him was a lie, extracted by Philadelphia homicide detectives who threatened him and bribed him with sex and drugs.
Now, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office has conceded that prosecutors at the time not only were aware of the lie — but also had failed to disclose to the defense that they charged that witness, Franklin Lee, with perjury.
So, on Thursday, the DA dropped all charges against Stokes, whose conviction was vacated in federal court in December after a judge found that the suppressed evidence “fatally undermines confidence” in the murder conviction.
