On July 14, 2010 Kenneth Granger was released from prison after serving 28 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.  Mr. Granger was convicted on the basis of erroneous eyewitness testimony, and for nearly 30 years law enforcement officials suppressed evidence that would have proved he did not commit the murder.

To understand the strange history of the case, it is important to understand the events that culminated in the July 14 hearing in the Court of Common Pleas that led to Mr. Granger’s release.  In 2009, Mr. Granger’s family asked attorney Karl Schwartz of the Defender Association of Philadelphia to review Mr. Granger’s case and establish his innocence.  As the investigation progressed, Mr. Schwartz was joined by Assistant Defender Ellen McBennett and David Rudovsky from the Pennsylvania Innocence Project.  Mr. Schwartz initially sought disclosure of the homicide investigation file and, over the objection of the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office, Judge Earl Trent of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas ordered the disclosure.  When Mr. Granger’s attorneys reviewed the homicide investigation file, as well as the District Attorney’s own file and the Police Department Internal Affairs files, they discovered critical evidence of Mr. Granger’s innocence, including the fact that an eyewitness had actually identified someone else as the person who committed the murder.

Based on this evidence, Mr. Granger’s attorneys asked the court to grant him a new trial.  The DA opposed this request. However, as the evidence of Mr. Granger’s innocence and official misconduct in the case continued to build, the DA offered a “deal” that would have allowed Mr. Granger to plead guilty to third degree murder and get a “time-served” sentence.  Mr. Granger refused to plead guilty to a crime he did not commit, but realizing it could be years before he could win a new trial, he agreed to a “no contest” plea.  On July 14, he told the Court that he was entering the no contest plea solely to get out of prison now – after 28 long years – rather than waiting in prison for the legal process to run its course and possibly grant him a new trial.  At 57 years of age, he had no other rational decision.  Mr. Granger is now free.

The evidence shows clearly that he is innocent. The victim in Mr. Granger’s case was killed near a neighborhood bar, and there were several eyewitnesses.  When the police questioned the eyewitnesses, their descriptions of the perpetrator differed in a number of respects on matters of height, color and physical features.  One of the eyewitnesses was a barmaid who said she could identify the perpetrator.  When the police showed her a group of photos that included a photo of Mr. Granger, she selected someone other than Mr. Granger as the perpetrator.  No one ever disclosed this favorable evidence to the defense even though the Commonwealth’s trial file included the photograph of the person the barmaid identified as the perpetrator, with his name and the name of the witness, the date of her identification and the term “Positive ID.” Incredibly, at Mr. Granger’s trial, a police detective falsely testified that the barmaid “did not pick out anyone in particular” after reviewing photos.  This key fact, that she identified someone else, was suppressed for 30 years.

At trial, the case against Mr. Granger was based solely on the identification testimony of three other witnesses.  One, the bar owner, testified that the perpetrator was “much, much shorter” than Mr. Granger and that he could not identify Mr. Granger.  Another witness, who viewed the shooting from more than 130 feet away, attended a lineup that included Mr. Granger, but picked out someone else as the perpetrator.  The final witness, an off-duty police officer, had failed to identify Mr. Granger in a photo array shortly after the murder, but falsely testified at trial that he had never been shown a photograph of Mr. Granger.  In the course of their investigation, the Defender’s Association and the Pennsylvania Innocence Project obtained Police Department Internal Affairs documentation (not available at the trial) that showed that the off-duty police officer had already been suspended for misconduct once, and was being investigated in a related shooting. In light of this information, the Commonwealth acknowledged, the witness had a strong “motive to falsely accuse” Mr. Granger.

The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly instructed police and prosecutors that they have a constitutional duty to disclose evidence favorable to the accused.  In this case, that principle was ignored.  With all this evidence of Mr. Granger’s innocence finally displayed in public view, Mr. Granger is now a free man.

On July 15, 2010, the Innocence Project submitted a Post Conviction Relief Act petition seeking a new trial for a client wrongfully convicted of rape 26 years ago in Philadelphia.  Because of the strength of the innocence claim, the Project provided District Attorney Seth Williams with a copy directly, asking him for a full and independent review of the facts of the case.

The client, whose name is being withheld at this time, was convicted of rape on the emotionally charged and apparently certain testimony of the 15 year-old victim, who was forced off the street one morning in November 1983 and brutally raped.  On several different occasions, the victim’s description of the perpetrator varied considerably, and her description never fairly described the client.  Other than the victim’s testimony, the only other evidence regarding the identity of the perpetrator came from a serologist at the Philadelphia Police Department’s Criminalistics Lab.  Although presented in a confusing manner, the serologist’s testimony actually established the client’s innocence; the serologist told the jury that the semen found on one piece of the victim’s clothing, as well as the blood and semen mixture found on another piece of her clothing, were blood type B, and that the client’s blood was type A.

The Project’s analysis of inhibition studies conducted on the client’s blood, the victim’s blood, the victim’s clothing and the rape kit demonstrate the client’s innocence.  Larry Presley, the director of forensic sciences at Arcadia University and a former director of the FBI DNA Analysis Unit, reviewed the lab reports from the case, and is preparing a report.  He concludes that the client was not a contributor to the rape kit because 1) the materials in the rape kit show the presence of H antigens; 2) neither the client’s nor the victim’s blood contains H antigens; and 3) there are no possible contributors to the rape kit materials other than the victim and the rapist.  This evidence eliminates the client as the possible rapist and establishes that the client is innocent

Thomas Lowenstein's The Ghost Detective is a superbly written thriller set in the closing months of the 20th century.  James McParland arrives in Boston to seek redemption. One hundred years earlier, McParland joined The Pinkerton Agency and quickly became its top detective—a man so feared by his opponents that they often committed suicide rather than fall into his hands. Now dead for more than eighty years, McParland lives up to his reputation as “The Great Detective” as he reappears, determined to earn eternal peace by helping the souls of those he tormented in life and whose ghosts still walk among the living.  The gripping tale propels the reader back and forth across centuries as human spirits collide with the spirit world in a tale of redemption, reconciliation, and the quest for everlasting peace.

In recognition of the need to focus attention on the injustices in the American criminal judicial system, Thomas Kennedy Lowenstein and Stay Thirsty Publishing will jointly donate 50 cents from the sale of every digital copy of The Ghost Detective to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project. To purchase a digital copy of the book - Click here.

About the Author

Thomas Kennedy Lowenstein is a writer, journalist, editor, and policy strategist. With a special interest in helping those wrongly convicted of a crime and in campaigning against the death penalty, he has worked tirelessly to focus attention on inequities in the American criminal justice system. Born in New York, educated in Boston, Mr. Lowenstein now lives in New Orleans with his wife and daughter.  The Ghost Detective is his first novel.

"Compelling Narrative"

“Thomas Lowenstein's The Ghost Detective is at once a brilliant work of fiction and an illuminating exploration of the truths that elude us in life and, perhaps, in death as well. With stark and powerful prose, this stunning first novel evokes an era beyond living memory, where the dead walk restlessly and the living search for meaning. Deftly shuttling the reader between centuries, Lowenstein's themes -- redemption, faith, honor and justice -- inform a compelling narrative filled with richly drawn characters that come vividly to life -- even after they're dead. With subtlety and grace, Thomas Lowenstein has created a fascinating world where life and death coexist without fear. This is a novel where those of us who still struggle for meaning in the madness can now find just a glimpse of hope.  

The Ghost Detective will haunt you long after you've read it; the only mystery is why you haven't already.”

More than 125 people joined in the celebration. In highlighting the Project's first year achievements, Legal Director Marissa Boyers Bluestine said: "This has been a year of growth and hope. From nothing, our Project now boasts dozens of trained volunteer lawyers, students, journalists, social workers and others who together have evaluated over 1500 claims of innocence. Most of those who seek our help have nowhere else to turn, no one else to hear their cries for justice. To the few whose cases we are actively pursuing, we offer hope. That's what our first client said to me when we first met. He threw his arms around me and said: "I don't want to let you go. You're my hope." Executive Director Richard Glazer thanked the performers and the many volunteers who helped make the Project's first anniversary celebration a big success. More than $85,000 was raised for the Project's work.

Standard Time (Lawyers by day, swinging musicians by night)	Philly Bloco (Musicians and dancers perform Brazilian Carnival style)
Legal Director Marissa Boyers Bluestine set out Project's Year One achievements	Everett Gillison, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, congratulates Project
Executive Director Richard Glazer highlights Project's growth in first year	More than 125 persons celebrated the Project's first anniversary