Philly Cop Beat Confession Out Of Wrongfully Convicted Man: DA

PHILADELPHIA — A longtime homicide detective with the Philadelphia Police Department has been charged after authorities said he beat a confession out of a man who was cleared of murder recently.

District Attorney Larry Krasner veteran Philadelphia Police Homicide Detective James Pitts was charged with two county of felony perjury and three counts of obstructing administration of law.

The charges stem from the 2013 wrongful conviction murder conviction of Obina Onyiah.

According to the police department, Pitts physically assaulted Onyiah during an official police interview at the Police Administration Building in November 2010.

Police said Pitts had the intent of "obstructing and preventing the administration of law."

The DA's office said Pitts also provided false testimony at Onyiah's 2013 trial.

Onyiah's conviction was vacated in May 2021 after he served 11 years in prison.

Pitts charges came after an Investigating Grand Jury recommended he be charged.

Onyiah had been convicted of a gunpoint attempted robbery and murder of William Glatz at his jewelry store on October 21, 2010. One male accomplice was killed during a shootout with Glatz before he was fatally shot, and a second male accomplice, described by surviving witnesses as "very slight of build" and 5 feet 7 inches or 5 feet 8 inches tall, escaped. Onyiah, who s 6 foot 3 inches, was implicated by a jailhouse informant and gave a false confession to Pitts.

"Homicide Detective James Pitts not only obtained Onyiah’s purported confession to the crime, he also served as a critical witness for the Commonwealth at trial," the grand jury said. :During his trial in 2013, Onyiah argued unsuccessfully that the purported confession obtained by Detective Pitts had been physically coerced, making it both involuntary and illegal. Later, during post-conviction proceedings initiated by Onyiah, new scientific evidence provided by photogrammetry experts demonstrated the falseness of Onyiah’s purported confession."

"As with all criminally charged defendants, Detective Pitts is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law," Krasner said. "This remains an open and active criminal investigation. Members of the public who wish to report potential crimes of public corruption or official misconduct may do so by contacting the Special Investigations Unit at DAO_SIU@phila.gov."

The Grand Jury presentment can be found on the is available online here.

Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw suspended Pitts for 30 days with the intent to dismiss at the end of 30 days.