A judge threw out the murder convictions of a young Detroit man who pleaded guilty to killing four people when he was 14, a remarkable turnaround in a case that has been in doubt for years after a professional hit man stepped forward and took responsibility for the slayings at a drug den.
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In the Detroit case, the judge ordered prosecutors to file a motion to dismiss the case, which means Sanford will not be retried, said a statement from Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy’s office.
Corrections Department spokesman Chris Gautz said Sanford had spent the last several years at a prison in Marquette in northern MI but was moved to the Ionia prison in anticipation of his release.
A hit man who is already in prison for other murders gave police a detailed affidavit in March 2015 saying he was responsible for the homicides – and that Sanford had no part in the crime.
The judge’s decision comes at the request of the Wayne County prosecutor’s office and Sanford’s attorneys, the news site reports.
Davontae Sanford is scheduled to be released from a prison in western MI around 3 p.m. Wednesday, a day after a Detroit-area judge dismissed his 2008 second-degree murder convictions. He pleaded guilty at age 15.
Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy had long resisted efforts to revisit the convictions until law schools at the University of MI and Northwestern University and other pro bono lawyers got involved in 2015.
Worthy spokeswoman Maria Miller said there would be no additional comment about the case by prosecutors until Thursday.
“After 3,185 days of prison time for a crime he did not commit, Davontae finally got justice today”, said Megan Crane, who co-directs the center, “Davontae and his family, and many lawyers, have fought long and hard to show the truth in this case”.
Last month, the site notes, Michigan State Police submitted their findings to Prosecutor Kym Worthy’s office, findings that followed an investigation launched past year.
The revelation prompted calls for Sanford to be freed, but prosecutors resisted at every turn until state police were asked previous year to take a fresh look. Judge Brian Sullivan signed the order Tuesday.
Sanford’s family says he confessed to please police.
But prosecutor Kym Worthy had refused efforts to revisit the case until law schools at the University of MI and Northwestern University and other pro bono lawyers became involved past year.
Sanford, who is blind in one eye, was 14 years old when he approached police at the scene following the killings and was arrested. It does not mention Smothers.
His brother handed him a cell phone, and Sanford began speaking to someone on the other end as Naasko drove away through the crowd of reporters in the silent hybrid.
The case appeared closed and unremarkable until lawyers discovered that hitman Vincent Smothers had confessed to the murders, as well as a string of other killings.
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Smothers, 35, has said he would never have used a child like Mr Sanford as an accomplice on such a job.
