PA Innocence Project to review murder case profiled in City&State PA

Anthony Brown, a man whose alleged wrongful conviction for a 1998 West Philadelphia homicide was featured in City&State PA, will have his case reviewed by the Pennsylvania Innocence Project. 

The nonprofit seeks to exonerate men and women who have been wrongfully imprisoned.

Brown’s case was central to a City&State PA special report on former Democratic Philadelphia District Attorney candidate Tariq El-Shabazz. Currently serving a life sentence for the slaying of Frances Rorie at SCI-Huntingdon, Brown blamed El-Shabazz’s conduct as his private defense attorney for landing him in prison.

Other incarcerated men later described similar experiences with El-Shabazz.

Post-conviction appeal hearings later found that the lawyer had waited years to fully investigate Brown’s alibi, missing crucial deadlines for the introduction of corroborating witnesses. While El-Shabazz’s conduct was critically remarked upon by several appeals judges, Brown’s efforts to meet the high bar required to secure a new trial have so far fallen short.

Brown confirmed through a prison messaging service that the Innocence Project had contacted him about reviewing documents related to his case. Marissa Bluestine, the nonprofit’s legal director, declined to discuss the case, citing attorney-client privilege.