PHILADELPHIA - A man recently set free after the prosecution's case fell apart is now suing the City of Philadelphia for the time he spent in prison after being wrongfully convicted of murdering an off-duty cop.
The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and detectives from the Philadelphia Police Department's Homicide Division are facing a lawsuit filed by William Johnson on Jan. 4 in Philadelphia federal court.
The plaintiff alleges that their misconduct led to his wrongful arrest, prosecution, conviction, and incarceration for a murder he did not commit. As a result, Johnson served 18 years in prison.
The case revolves around the murder of Terrence Flomo, an off-duty Philadelphia police officer who was shot and killed in North Philadelphia in 2005. According to the complaint, Brenda Bowens and Nora Williams, two potential witnesses, initially denied seeing anything related to the shooting.
However, they later implicated Johnson and Mumin Slaughter after being subjected to coercion and threats by detectives, the suit says.
Johnson was convicted of third-degree murder and sentenced to 30-60 years in prison. In 2020, Bowens recanted her trial testimony, leading to Johnson filing a PCRA petition which revealed undisclosed exculpatory evidence undermining the prosecution’s case.
The lawsuit accuses Assistant District Attorney Carlos Vega of deliberately failing to disclose critical evidence that could have helped Johnson's defense. The plaintiff is now seeking relief for the extensive misconduct of officials involved in his case.
Johnson is represented by David Rudovsky, Jonathan Feinberg and Grace Harris of Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing, Feinberg & Lin, plus Emma Freudenberger of Neufeld Scheck in New York.