Judge overturns murder convictions of ‘Chester Trio’ after more than two decades in prison

Derrick Chappell, 41, Morton Johnson, 44, and Samuel Grasty, 47, were each convicted in separate trials of second-degree murder and other charges in 2000 and 2001, and sentenced to life in prison for the 1997 killing of Henrietta Nickens, 70, in Chester, Pennsylvania. Yet they have maintained their innocence over the two decades they’ve been imprisoned. Last year, the “Chester Trio” asked a judge to throw out their convictions and order new trials, citing new DNA evidence they say points to an unknown man as the killer. Prosecutors, though, fought to keep the three behind bars and uphold the convictions, saying the DNA evidence did not change anything already known at the time of their trials. In Thursday’s ruling, Delaware County Judge Mary Alice Brennan sided with the trio, vacating the convictions and granting their request for a new trial. The ruling is a vindication of their long protests of innocence, said Paul Casteleiro, an attorney with Centurion who represents Grasty. Source - CNN