Overview
- Prosecutors filed the petition Monday after the office’s Conviction Integrity Unit concluded Adrian Whitfield Gordon’s conviction lacked integrity.
- The filing cites a 2001 lead pointing to a second man whose arrest was recorded under a different case number and never disclosed to prosecutors or the defense.
- Prosecutors fault the lead detective for not pursuing or explaining the elimination of that alternative suspect.
- The case moved from killing to guilty verdict in 82 days after a three-day bench trial, a pace the petition describes as unheard of for a murder prosecution.
- The judge must now decide whether to grant the vacatur, and if it is approved the DA says the office will reassess evidence and decide whether to refile, noting this is not a declaration of innocence.