Thread by @ProPublica

1/ Two men in Indiana went to prison on poor police work and shaky evidence.

When the case started to unravel, officials doubled down.

Both sides would ultimately make their case to Mike Pence, now @VP, the Indiana governor running for vice president.

propub.li/2Ahnex0

2/ On Oct. 29, 1996, 17-year-old Michael Kershner was shot and nearly killed.

Who did it? Two black men, witnesses said: a tall, thin gunman, and a short, stocky accomplice.

3/ Chris Parish was the first suspect. A short, stocky man.

An eyewitness named him in a contradictory statement. Parish said he gave police an alibi. The detective later said he had no notes of that interview.

4/ That lead detective was Steve Rezutko.

He had a checkered past while at Elkhart’s police department. He once allowed a robbery suspect to escape.

A contradiction in the eyewitness' statement didn't give Rezutko pause. "I took it as he thought it was Chris Parish," he said.

5/ Parish was arrested and his mother put up her house to post his $50,000 bond. That meant he’d be free, pending trial.

A couple of months later, while in public with his kids and girlfriend, Parish was re-arrested on the warrant he’d already posted bond for.

6/ The detective who pulled him in? Steve Ambrose.

Parish was paying a phone bill when Ambrose saw him and drew his gun. Ambrose "told my kids if they move, that he was going to blow their head off," Parish said.

7/ The detectives, Ambrose and Rezutko, had records of questionable conduct.

Ambrose's rough handling of one suspect, a superior wrote, "gives us the appearance of goons."

In addition to Rezutko allowing a suspect to escape, he also failed to arrest a wanted man.

8/ Parish filed a disciplinary complaint against Ambrose for the re-arrest.

Ambrose got a 5-day suspension. "You [acted] without consideration of law, rules, or consequences," the police chief wrote.

9/ But Parish still faced the original charges.

In 1998, Parish was found guilty of attempted murder and robbery.

Sentence: 30 years.

10/ Rezutko later said Parish’s was the only case in his whole career where he had doubts that the right person was on trial.

11/ Rezutko suspected the other robber, the gunman, was Keith Cooper. He was tall, thin, black.

"Elkhart, Indiana, doesn't have a lot of tall, 6-foot-4, 6-foot-5 black male robbers running around," Rezutko would say.

12/ Cooper was initially pinpointed b/c he was a suspect in a purse-snatching case. He was acquitted in that case in '97.

The same day he was acquitted, prosecutors charged Cooper w/ attempted murder & robbery in the shooting. He was found guilty of robbery. Sentence: 40 years.

13/ In 2004, eight years after the shooting, new DNA testing bolstered Cooper's claim of innocence.

The testing linked a hat, reportedly worn by the shooter, to a convicted killer in Michigan.

14/ In 2005, an appeals court tossed Parish's conviction.

In 2006, prosecutors dropped their charges.

In 2007, Parish sued. Elkhart eventually settled the suit for $4.9 million.

15/ In 2006, Cooper’s sentence was reduced to time served.

He could go free as long as he dropped his second appeal — a deal approved by Elkhart County prosecutor Curtis Hill. But his conviction would stay on his record.

16/ By 2008, key eyewitnesses, including the shooting victim, no longer believed Cooper was guilty.

17/ In 2009, Cooper filed a petition with the Indiana Parole Board, seeking a pardon. In 2014, he got a hearing.

The board unanimously recommended that Gov. Mike Pence (now @VP) pardon Cooper.

Pence did nothing.

18/ In 2016, Hill, running for Indiana attorney general, issued a press release saying Cooper “ended his claim of innocence” when he accepted the 2006 deal that preserved his conviction while setting him free.

19/ Hill won the race for Indiana AG.

Pence, @VP, was elected vice president.

The prosecutor who tried Cooper and Parish became a judge.

The detective who took that contradictory statement became police chief.

20/ All the while, Cooper's petition sat.

For 34 months, Pence refused to act.

21/ One month after taking office in 2017, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb granted Cooper’s pardon, the first in state history based on innocence.

Cooper had "waited long enough," the governor said.

22/ Read the full story here: propub.li/2Ahnex0

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