What Went Wrong?
Affidavit from Nathaniel O. Van, a friend of Mark Harris’, stating that Mark admitted to having lied in his statement that was used to convict Rodney Derrickson of murder.
Coerced Eyewitness Statements
The only evidence presented to convict Rodney were three unreliable witness testimonies, those of Mark Harris, Jackie Harris, and Frank Richardson. Mark later told a confidante that the Chester Police Dept. coerced him into naming Rodney as the suspect. All of the statements given to the police were inconsistent, with key details differing at different dates. Jackie Harris, who was Mark’s father, was also known to work as an informant for the Chester PD, and had a history of protecting his family from the law.
Destroyed Evidence
No DNA evidence was tested in Rodney’s case. Although the crime scene could have been swept for fingerprints, the car was destroyed before the first trial even began despite Rodney’s request for its testing. The victim’s clothing also mysteriously disappeared, and the “close-range shooting” that the eyewitnesses claim to have seen was not supported by the expert ballistics report.
Excerpt from the oral deposition of William Welsh, a Chester PD officer that handled the processing of the “missing” vehicle in Rodney’s case.
Quotes from a 2005 Civil Rights Lawsuit filed against Major Ronald Lewandowski, a Chester PD officer that worked on the Patrick Cassidy case. Another officer on the force accused him of discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race.
Corrupt Police Department
Multiple Chester Police officers in the 1990s, some of whom worked on Rodney’s case, were involved in civil rights lawsuits regarding racial discrimination. In the past, the police had confused Rodney with one of the key witnesses, Mark Harris, and heavily policed the William Penn Projects. One of the key investigators, Det. William Welsh, also testified as an expert witness in another homicide case, which turned out to be a wrongful conviction resulting in the exoneration of Richard Jackson.