Coerced to confess, Philly man exonerated after 27 years

Why there could be more cases like Willy Veasy's as the Philly DA's office investigates allegations of coerced confessions and bad convictions.

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Willie Veasy (center) walks out of the Center for Criminal Justice as a free man after being in prison for 27 years along with his sister, Ketra Veasy (right), and Debra Chappell  on Wednesday, Oct. 09, 2019. (Heather Khalifa/The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Willie Veasy (center) walks out of the Center for Criminal Justice as a free man after being in prison for 27 years along with his sister, Ketra Veasy (right), and Debra Chappell on Wednesday, Oct. 09, 2019. (Heather Khalifa/The Philadelphia Inquirer)

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After 27 years in prison, Willy Veasy was let free last week, exonerated after lawyers discovered that two detectives had pressured him into confessing to a murder he didn’t commit. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Chris Palmer explains why there could be more cases like Veasy’s as the District Attorney’s office investigates allegations of coerced confessions and bad convictions.

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