Being charged with murder is a serious offence that should never be taken lightly but what happens when the key eyewitness is actually blind? A murder conviction of a Chicago man who spent 12 years in prison has been overturned because a key eyewitness was discovered to be legally blind.
Darien Harris was convicted in 2011 for shooting and killing 23-year-old Rondell Moore and seriously injuring another man. The 30-year-old Harris was 18 at the time and has always claimed he was innocent.
In a new trial, Cook County Judge Diana Kenworthy vacated Harris’ conviction and said it was best for the case to “start over.” Attorney Lauren Myerscough-Mueller works with the Exoneration Project and is representing Harris.
“Mr. Harris has spent 12 years wrongfully imprisoned, having been arrested when he was just 18,” the organization said in a statement. “His conviction was secured almost solely through the testimony of a blind eyewitness, who the court repeatedly referred to as credible when wrongfully convicting Mr. Harris.”
“We look forward to continuing to fight for his freedom.”
The witness at the time of the crime had allegedly been suffering from advanced glaucoma. According to the organization, he had severely limited visibility because of this issue. The surveillance video also revealed that he was much farther away than he initially claimed to be.
When Harris’ family and legal team were originally fighting the case, they had urged Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx to look into the case more since they believed the witness failed to disclose that he was legally blind.
At the time of the shooting, which occurred at a gas station, Harris said he was at home watching a basketball game. He was arrested a few days after the murder occurred, convicted and sentenced to 76 years in prison by a now-retired judge.
According to the Exoneration Project, there were also issues with “police misconduct” throughout the entire. During the trial, the alleged getaway driver in the shooting “unequivocally recanted” his initial statements identifying Harris and alleged that police coerced him into making a false identification by threatening to send him to jail for the rest of his life. Another witness was also told to identify Harris as the alleged shooter.
While the case has now been opened up, because of the seriousness of the crime, Harris will not be released as he waits for a new trial. As of right now, a new trial date has not been set.