On Wednesday, in the middle of a historic Racial Justice Act hearing in Johnston County, CDPL Executive Director Gretchen Engel snuck away to Philadelphia. Her reason? The exoneration of a client who spent nearly 30 years on Pennsylvania’s death row.
Here she is with Danny Gwynn, along with other supporters and members of the legal team.
Mr. Gwynn was wrongfully sentenced to death in 1995 for an act of arson that killed one person. District Attorney Larry Krasner agreed to Mr. Gwynn’s release and acknowledged that prosecutors had relied on a false confession that was inconsistent with the facts of the crime. They also suppressed evidence of another suspect, who they now believe set the deadly fire.
While most of CDPL’s clients are in North Carolina, every once in a while our attorneys take an out-of-state case. Death row exonerations are always a cause for celebration, but it’s also tragic that CDPL has now had four clients exonerated after being sentenced to death. Stunningly, Mr. Gwynn is the second CDPL client who spent three decades awaiting execution before his innocence was finally recognized. (The first was Henry McCollum.)
A death penalty system that leaves innocent people at risk of execution is clearly unfit to exist, and we continue to find it amazing that people survive decades of wrongful imprisonment with their spirits intact. As Gretchen says, “Danny is an incredibly resilient person. His art work, which you can view here, has been sustaining for him and a gift to everyone who sees it.” On Wednesday night, Gretchen was by his side as he walked out of prison and reunited with his family.
In one week, we’ve seen the starkest proof imaginable that the death penalty is racist and error-prone — the very opposite of justice. And we’re not done yet. The Racial Justice Act hearing in the case of Hasson Bacote continues next week. On Monday, we’ll have several historians who will expose the death penalty’s clear links to racial terror, and on Wednesday we expect Bryan Stevenson to testify about the longstanding exclusion of Black people from juries. It will be livestreamed on WRAL.com or you can join us in Courtroom 2 on the second floor of the Johnston County Courthouse. Court begins at 10 a.m. Monday and 9:30 a.m. the rest of the week.
For now, enjoy the sight of Danny Gwynn taking his first steps outside of prison.
