Thread by @TheViewFromLL2

In 2003, when Dennis Perry was convicted of a murder he did not commit, the DA in Camden County did everything in his power to ensure Dennis's wrongful conviction would never be discovered.

Today, Dennis Perry is in court in Brunswick, GA, where he will finally be exonerated.

https://twitter.com/FCN2go/status/1416382192192794626

We covered Dennis Perry's case in Season 3 of @Undisclosedpod – although his case was seemingly a hopeless one. After his conviction, the DA had made him an offer: if you agree to never challenge your conviction, I will spare your life. To avoid being executed, Dennis accepted.

@Undisclosedpod The DA made this offer knowing that he had withheld extensive evidence of Dennis' innocence from the defense – including the fact another suspect had confessed while in police custody, and that the State's star witness was to be secretly paid off with a $12,000 reward.

@Undisclosedpod Dennis was convicted despite the fact that hairs that almost certainly belonged to the killer were found at the crime scene – and the DNA from those hairs did not match Dennis.

Only mtDNA was recovered, though, so DNA databases could not help to ID who the hairs belonged to.

@Undisclosedpod There was one suspect in particular though, who had never been properly ruled out, despite all the red flags waving around him: Erik Sparre, who had been credibly accused of the murders by his first wife one year after they had happened.

@Undisclosedpod Last year, @GaInnocence was able to obtain a DNA sample from Sparre's mother – who has the same mtDNA as her son. It was the only DNA that GIP ever sought to test.

That mtDNA profile was a match for the mtDNA found at Rising Daughter Church, where the Swains had been killed.

@Undisclosedpod @GaInnocence With this new DNA evidence, @GaInnocence returned to court. But the DA's office opposed Dennis' release, arguing that DNA evidence proving his innocence was irrelevant – because Dennis had given up his right to challenge his conviction on any basis, including actual innocence.

@Undisclosedpod @GaInnocence Last year, over the State's objections, the court granted Dennis' motion for a new trial. Judge Scarlett ordered his release, pending retrial, and Dennis walked out of prison for the first time in 20 years.

@Undisclosedpod @GaInnocence But Dennis' ordeal wasn't over yet. The murder charges were still hanging over his head.

Then in Nov, the prior DA was voted out of office. Last week, the new DA filed a motion to drop the case.

Today, that motion was granted. Dennis has been exonerated.

https://twitter.com/GaInnocence/status/1417190575082725378

As for Sparre, whose mtDNA matched the hairs from the crime scene? Well, the GBI's reopened investigation remains ongoing.

But whether or not he ever faces charges for the murders of Harold and Thelma Swain, I suspect that this will not be the end of Erik Sparre's story.

Dennis has his freedom and his exoneration now, and a chance to build a new life with his wife Brenda after 20 years behind bars.

But unless the GA Assembly passes a special law, there will be no compensation for the wrong that Georgia has done to him.

https://twitter.com/ASFleischman/status/1417198635230633986

Here's a link to Dennis' fundraiser. As the State of Georgia provides exonerees with no assistance after their release, this fund will provide with the support he needs to get back on his feet, after 20 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit.
mightycause.com/story/Supportd…