Judge throws out man's conviction for deadly 1994 fire in West Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A man serving time on death row was exonerated and ordered to be released by a Philadelphia judge on Wednesday.
Daniel Gwynn was convicted of first-degree murder for a deadly fire in 1994.
It happened in a vacant building on the 4500 block of Chestnut Street in West Philadelphia.
Gwynn and five other people were squatting inside the building.
One of them, a woman, was killed in the blaze.
"The District Attorney's office filed a motion to drop all charges, citing a flawed investigation including gaps in evidence, faulty witness testimony, and an alternative suspect.
Attorneys say there was another suspect who'd threatened the fire victims. That suspect is already in jail, serving a life sentence for a different murder.
Prosecutors also previously claimed that witnesses identified Gwynn in a photo lineup, in which his photo was not included.
There were also issues with Gwynn's confession. He was never read his Miranda Rights, and officials say the confession did not align with the fire evidence of the trial.
They point to fear and Gwynn's drug addiction at the time as to why he may have falsely confessed.
"I think he was probably terrified and he was intoxicated, and probably said whatever they wanted to hear," said David Napiorski, assistant supervisor of Federal Litigation at the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, which reviewed the case as part of its normal practice.
"There was wrong done here and the DA's office is committed to correcting those wrongs when we identify them," he added.
Gretchen Engle and Karl Schwartz both served as attorneys representing Gwynn.
"I do give a lot of credit to the prosecutor's office that is giving a different approach," said Engle, who is also director of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation.
Now, after 30 years in prison and spending much of that time painting, Gwynn is finally free.
"It was a key part of my survival in there because it was one way to speak about the injustice that was happening to me," Gwynn said about his painting.
WATCH | Daniel Gwynn speaks to Action News' TaRhonda Thomas after exoneration, release
"It's amazing to us that someone could be in custody and have that kind of light within them," said Schwartz, who now has some of Gwynn's paintings in his office.
"He's running up the stairs towards a dove, and he's reaching for hope," said Ann Marie Kirk, co-founder of the nonprofit Art for Justice, while describing one of Gwynn's paintings.
The nonprofit uses art to share the plight of people who say they are wrongfully convicted.
"We can all learn from his art about resilience, about tenacity, about creativity," Kirk added.
The Philadelphia District Attorney's office will not retry the case against Gwynn, officials say.
Napiorski said the family did not object to the decision by the D.A.'s office to not retry Gwynn.
