Pennsylvania
Man Freed From Death Row (Oct. 2006)
(Courtesy
of the Death Penalty Information Center)
Dennis
Counterman was freed from a
Pennsylvania courtroom on October 18, 2006
after serving many years on the state's death row.
Counterman had been convicted and sentenced to death in
1990 for allegedly setting a fire in his own house that
resulted in the death of his three children. That
conviction was overturned in 2001 because prosecutors had
withheld evidence from the defense indicating that the
oldest child had a history of fire-setting.
At
Counterman's orignial trial, the prosecution witnesses said
that a burn pattern was discovered that indicated an
accelerant was used, even though no accelerant was
found. At later hearings, however, an expert hired by
the prosecution said that the prosecution's theory of how
the fire started "is not properly supported by today's
standards."
Rather than face the uncertainty of another trial,
Counterman agreed to enter an Alford
plea, that is one
in which the defendant does not admit guilt but agrees that
the prosecution might have been able to convince a jury of
his guilt. The plea was to a charge of third-degree
murder and carried a maximum term of 18 years in
prison. Since Counterman had already served the
maximum time, he was released immediately by Lehigh County
Judge Lawrence Brenner. After his release, Counterman
said, "I am more frustrated than angry. I spent all
this time for something I didn't even do."
(The
Morning Call (PA), Oct. 19, 2006). See also
Maurice Possley's article in the Oct. 18, 2006 edition of
the Chicago Tribune
about faulty arson
investigations in other cases. See
Innocence
and
Arbitrariness.
(DPIC Note: Cases such as that of Dennis Counterman are not
counted as part of DPIC's Innocence List, which includes
only people cleared of all charges related the original
crime.)