PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A jury reached a mixed verdict on Thursday in the perjury trial of three retired Philadelphia detectives. The men were accused of lying about DNA evidence under oath during the retrial of Anthony Wright in 2016.
One of the former detectives, Martin Devlin, was acquitted of all charges. However, his two colleagues were not.
Frank Jastrzembski was found guilty of one count of making false statements, and Manuel Santiago was found guilty of a single perjury charge and a single charge of making false statements.
This all stems from the retrial of Wright, who was convicted in 1993 of murdering 77-year-old Louise Talley. He spent 25 years in prison. The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office under Seth Williams decided to retry him after DNA evidence had connected the case to another man, who has since died.
Wright was ultimately acquitted in the 2016 retrial. District Attorney Larry Krasner brought charges against the detectives in 2021.
In a press conference after the verdict, Krasner called the conduct of all three horrific.
"We do not need law enforcement officers who would rather lie than lose a case," he said. "[The] courtroom should be a sacred place. You shouldn’t be taking people’s lives wrongly. People who violate that deserve an appropriate and just consequence."
The perjury case included testimony from Wright, who told jurors that his confession was coerced and that all the people who testified against him lied.
Defense Attorney Brian McMonagle, who represented Devlin said there was "no framing of any evidence," and "no coercion of any statements."
Fred Perri represented Santiago and said his conviction came as a result of "his confusion over the DNA evidence in the case."
Santiago and Jastrzembski are set to be sentenced in June, but McMonagle said an appeal to their convictions was likely.