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DA Williams Expands Conviction Review Unit

by Pat Loeb

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- One of the last things District Attorney Seth Williams did before deciding not to run for a third term was to expand the Conviction Review Unit.

That's the unit that investigates claims of innocence by those who've been convicted. He had high hopes for the unit when he announced the expansion.

Donte Rollins spent nine years in jail before the District Attorney's office, in December, agreed "it would not have been possible" for him to have participated in the shooting for which he was convicted.

It is that sort of miscarriage of justice the expansion of the unit-- from one part-time person to four full-time lawyers and investigators-- was meant to prevent, as Williams explained at an announcement Wednesday.

"Just look at the news and social media. People are questioning the criminal justice system, and they think we have too many people in jail. Wrongful convictions undermine the integrity, the very legitimacy, of the criminal justice system," Williams said.

Ironically, it was that announcement that convinced him that restoring faith in the system would mean his own withdrawal from re-election, when reporters questions afterward focused on his ethics violations.

The expansion, though, moves forward.

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