Wrongfully Convicted Philly Teen Exonerated After 15 Years in Prison

David Sparks, a Philadelphia teenager, has been exonerated after serving 15 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. Sparks was convicted based on eyewitness testimony, despite evidence pointing to another suspect, Ivan Simmons. The District Attorney's Conviction Integrity Unit and the Pennsylvania Innocence Project uncovered previously undisclosed evidence in police files, including ballistic evidence linking Simmons to the murder weapon. This marks the sixth murder conviction overturned by Common Pleas Court Judge Scott DiClaudio in three days, highlighting the power of obtaining information from homicide files. The case also exposes the misconduct of former homicide detective Philip Nordo, who was involved in three of the overturned convictions.