Conviction Vacated in Georgia Church Murders

[lashlarue]

Dennis Perry's conviction for Harold and Thelma Swain in the Georgia Church murders of 1985 was vacated on July 23, 2020. Perry always maintained his innocence and is now free thanks to the Georgia Innocence Project. This is the one where the glasses were left behind and recent DNA testing shows the DNA of an original suspect, Erik Sparre, on the glasses.

https://www.ajc.com/news/judge-to-we...to798lpKrLnmro

[Allierain]

Why for Heaven's sake did Perry plead guilty if he wasn't?? The original Lifetime update on this case from 15+ years ago stated that he plead guilty in exchange for not appealing his conviction. I have no clue what that means. Just based on the UM segment alone, I cannot figure out why this case got so bungled.

[James T]

Originally Posted by Allierain

Why for Heaven's sake did Perry plead guilty if he wasn't?? The original Lifetime update on this case from 15+ years ago stated that he plead guilty in exchange for not appealing his conviction. I have no clue what that means. Just based on the UM segment alone, I cannot figure out why this case got so bungled.

In that era police tactics were often to deny access to a lawyer, deny you sleep, put salt in your food, long interrogations-sometimes with physical assaults etc. Often people with the mental age of children or mental problems were told if they confessed then they could go home-having been denied representation & fed information about the case by the police.

People will confess to anything if enough duress is put on them for long enough-with basic rights like sleep & access to legal representation denied, just for the situation to stop. Check out The Innocent Man documentary, Bridgewater Four.

[Allierain]

Originally Posted by James T

In that era police tactics were often to deny access to a lawyer, deny you sleep, put salt in your food, long interrogations-sometimes with physical assaults etc. Often people with the mental age of children or mental problems were told if they confessed then they could go home-having been denied representation & fed information about the case by the police.

People will confess to anything if enough duress is put on them for long enough-with basic rights like sleep & access to legal representation denied, just for the situation to stop. Check out The Innocent Man documentary, Bridgewater Four.

Not surprising, considering there are several UM cases that show police pulling the same BS you just described to get a confession. But I have never heard of the Bridgewater Four. I just read up a little on the case and....wow.....so I am currently looking to see if that doc is on Netflix or online. Cannot wait to watch it. Perhaps it will open my eyes a little more as to what tactics police use and why people will confess to a crime they didn't commit.

As for the church murders, I hope they finally got the guy that did it and Perry is compensated for the time that he has lost. I know Perry has been fighting this for years. I am still confused about the Lifetime update though, about Perry pleading guilty in exchange for not appealing. That still makes no sense to me. What am I missing??

[lashlarue]

Originally Posted by Allierain

Why for Heaven's sake did Perry plead guilty if he wasn't?? The original Lifetime update on this case from 15+ years ago stated that he plead guilty in exchange for not appealing his conviction. I have no clue what that means. Just based on the UM segment alone, I cannot figure out why this case got so bungled.

He didn't plead guilty. He was convicted after a week long jury trial. If you read or heard something that said he plead guilty, it was incorrect.

The pleading is attached below... After he was convicted at trial, he agreed to accept two consecutive life terms in prison as opposed to a contested sentencing hearing and possibly facing the death penalty. The UM update may have worded it wrong as I have noticed before.

https://www.georgiainnocenceproject..../dennis-perry/

[johnnyangel]

Has this guy been arrested yet?

Also, in some weird twist, the suspect's mother was found dead just recently. Not sure if it was natural causes or she was killed.

Anybody have any further information?

[Allierain]

Originally Posted by lashlarue

He didn't plead guilty. He was convicted after a week long jury trial. If you read or heard something that said he plead guilty, it was incorrect.

The pleading is attached below... After he was convicted at trial, he agreed to accept two consecutive life terms in prison as opposed to a contested sentencing hearing and possibly facing the death penalty. The UM update may have worded it wrong as I have noticed before.

https://www.georgiainnocenceproject..../dennis-perry/

I was going purely by the Lifetime update, my bad. I didn't know he didn't plead guilty. Thank you for the link.

[Street Novelist]

Why the **** was Sparre never arrested? Talk about a miscarriage of justice!