He Spent 25 Years in Prison — The System Knew He Was Innocent

They lied, and cheated. Even after they knew the prosecution of the case was tainted, they did everything they could to fight his release. He was in prison for 25 years, and 266 days. Lawsuit settled against Fayette County, state police in wrongful conviction of man imprisoned for 26 years.

The State and the County will pay money to David Munchinski's estate, but nothing happened to the cop or the prosecutors involved in this tragedy. Until this kind of behavior is punished, it will continue.

Here is a sample.

During that time, it was revealed that Bowen [a "witness" for the prosecution], who later committed suicide in a jail cell, wasn’t even in Pennsylvania at the time of the Bear Rocks murders. He was in Oklahoma.

Bowen later admitted that the prosecutors and state police fed him the information they wanted him to testify about.

Munchinski and his attorneys also discovered the prosecutors and state police withheld at least a dozen pieces of exculpatory evidence in both trials and in post-conviction appellate proceedings later — even after being given explicit instructions by a judge to turn the evidence over.

At least two of those prosecutors were Gerald Solomon and Ralph Warman. The two that withheld evidence, coached a "witness" on what to say, and sent an innocent man to jail. They went on to become judges. The lawsuit also named Pennsylvania State Police Sgt. George Fayock, who oversaw the "investigation."

So the three of them got a man to lie on the stand about what happened. Then they withheld information from the defense, because that would stop them from winning.

Where is Justice in all of this? The Criminal Justice System doesn't give a damn about Justice. They care about winning, even if they have to lie and get others to lie.

As I said, all of the cops/lawyers that conspired to keep this man in prison for more than 25 years, despite knowing he was not guilty of the crime, faced no consequences. They didn't lose a single dollar from their pensions. (All three are dead; he was suing their estates.) There will be no trial. Even the estates won't lose a dollar, because the state is paying.

There is more, about how they did everything to delay his lawsuit, hoping he would die before it went to trial. About how the State Court of Appeals ignored all of the facts pointing to his innocence. (Those judges were once lawyers in the Criminal Justice System too.)

Munchinski died before his lawsuit could reach court.