Days Ago, John Fetterman Praised Philly DA Who Exonerated Murder Convict — Who Just Became a Murder Suspect

Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman praised Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) days before a local media affiliate reported that a man previously convicted of murder, released and exonerated through the CIU, was allegedly involved in another murder last month.

On Thursday, Fox 29 Philadelphia reported that Jahmir Harris, 32, who was released from prison last year, is wanted for his alleged role in the murder of 50-year-old Charles Gossett in September.

“Prosecutors say Harris was identified by security footage as the driver of a vehicle that two gunman exited before shooting 50-year-old Charles Gossett in the back of the head around 2 a.m.,” Fox 29’s Steve Keeley and Kelly Rule reported. In a tweet, Keeley reported that Harris turned himself over to Philadelphia police Friday.

Harris was convicted of the December 2012 murder of Louis Porter, who was shot in the head in front of his own five-year-old son. Harris was sentenced to life without parole in 2015 but was exonerated and released through Krasner’s CIU, which Fetterman gushed over just earlier this week while speaking with David Weigel of Semafor:

There’s plenty of things that I agree with [Krasner] about. One thing about him that I did support is that he’s freed, I think it is about two dozen innocently convicted individuals that spent decades in prison. I think that really is justice. It’s not being hard on crime to allow innocent people to die in prison. But there’s other issues that we disagree on.

Fetterman has come under intense scrutiny for his record and past comments on the prison system as law and order take center stage in the midterm elections. As lieutenant governor, Fetterman oversees Pennsylvania’s five-person Board of Pardons, which was radicalized under his watch.

From March 2019 through April 2022, the board sent at least 46 commutation recommendations to Gov. Tom Wolf (D), as the Philadelphia Inquirer‘s Julie Terruso reported in May.

“That’s compared with just six in Wolf’s first term, none under former Republican Gov. Tom Corbett’s one term, and only five during former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell’s eight years in office,” as Terruso wrote.

Fetterman has also said he believes Pennsylvania could empty its prisons by one-third “and not make anyone less safe” and said that during the state’s 2020 Chinese coronavirus jailbreak that Pennsylvania should have been freeing convicts “all along.”