UB, George Washington University Innocence Projects Obtain Release of Two Brothers Wrongly Convicted of Murder
May 3, 2019
Contact: Office of Government and Public Affairs
Phone: 410.837.5739
Working with their partners at George Washington University, the University of Baltimore School of Law's Innocence Project Clinic has successfully overturned the murder conviction of two brothers from East Baltimore. Kenneth "JR" McPherson and Eric Simmons were convicted in May 1995 and each sentenced to life in prison.
Innocence Project teams from both institutions investigated the murder case, in which prosecutors accused the pair of fatally shooting a man in the Broadway East neighborhood. According to The Baltimore Sun, a witness claimed to have seen the crime from a third-floor window about 150 feet away. "A 13-year-old boy—attorneys now say he was threatened with homicide charges—identified the brothers as the killers. Then he recanted his statement during trial," the newspaper reports.
The teams—at UB, led by Deputy Director Brianna Ford with a focus on Simmons' case—presented their new findings to the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office. On May 3, a judge vacated the conviction and ordered a new trial; the office then announced that it agreed to dismiss all charges against the brothers.
Learn more about the UB School of Law's Innocence Project Clinic.
Read more about the case.