A Philadelphia man is free after doing 30 years in prison.
“I feel exceedingly joyful, happy, that finally, you know … after 30 or more years, after constantly knocking on the door for somebody to please hear me, that day finally came,” 60-year-old Curtis Crosland told CNN.
Crosland now has five children, a fiancée, and 32 grandchildren. “It’s a great feeling to still be dad, to be wanted and desired, and open arms to receive you, that’s been the greatest part of being exonerated, that I come home to a loving family that wants and needs me,” he added.
Two witnesses later recanted statements they had previously made implicating Crosland in the case, and his conviction was overturned in June.
Philadelphia Conviction Integrity Unit, established in 2018 by the office of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, worked hard on the case. The unit investigates claims of innocence and wrongful conviction. Crosland is the 22nd exoneration in which it has been involved, according to a news release from the CIU.
In 1991, Crosland was found guilty of second-degree murder, robbery, and possessing an instrument surrounding the 1984 killing of a Philadelphia store owner.
The Philadelphia Police Department and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office held files that could have exonerated him from the beginning of the case. The documents had troubling information about the credibility of two key witnesses and police records that pointed to another suspect, the lawsuit states.
Despite the evidence that supported his innocence and no other evidence that connected Crosland to the crime, he was still held in prison.
Crosland became a suspect in the murder of Il Man “Tony” Heo, a Philadelphia grocery and deli store owner, who a masked shooter killed in 1984. He was shot minutes before he was set to close the store for the night, CNN reported.
Crosland was working as an assistant for a physical therapist in 1987 and was preparing to attend college in hopes of also becoming a physical therapist.
“I got a knock at my door (from police), I remember telling my wife and son ‘I’ll be back,’ because I didn’t do anything. I never came back. I never knew what I did, until they told me what I was accused of. It’s like a kidnap,” said Crosland.
Crosland believes his case shows how the criminal justice system is “broke, it’s unfair, it’s unconstitutional. He filed multiple petitions while in prison, maintaining his innocence.
“You have poor, indigent men that have no access to have a good defense. The system should be designed that every man be treated equally,” Crosland said, adding that he went to court every year while he was in prison.
“I don’t think I ever had a full night’s sleep, but I always told myself the day I’m exonerated I’m going to get my full night’s sleep,” he said.
Crosland said his faith in God kept him strong but said prison was still a “hellish” struggle every day.
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