Another Philly ‘sex for lies’ conviction has been overturned, freeing a man after 41 years

A man who served 41 years in prison for a murder in North Philadelphia — and whose conviction was tainted by the “sex for lies” scheme exposed in a 2021 Inquirer investigation — was ordered freed on Wednesday after a judge overturned his conviction based on illegally suppressed evidence.

Andre “Shakur” Harvey was one of three men convicted of the 1982 drive-by shooting of Fred Rainey on North 27th Street and sentenced to life without parole.

But the District Attorney’s Office agreed to vacate that conviction, conceding that police had improperly withheld evidence pointing to two alternative suspects who, days after the shooting, had threatened another man with the same caliber gun — warning they’d kill him, just like they had killed the man up on 27th Street.

Common Pleas Court Judge Scott DiClaudio agreed with the prosecutors that there was not sufficient evidence to prove Harvey’s innocence, but said he deserved to be resentenced to time served and released.

“There are certain times when it is just impossible to go back 10, 20, 50 years and figure out … who really did it,” he said. “This isn’t necessarily exoneration. It’s justice.”

Harvey is the third person freed in the last three years whose case was investigated by Larry Gerrard and Ernest Gilbert — homicide detectives who, former jailhouse informants say, provided access to sexual liaisons in exchange for fabricated statements. (Both men are deceased.)

Willie Stokes was exonerated in 2022 of the murder of Leslie Campbell after learning that an informant who had revealed the arrangement had been convicted of perjury for his false testimony implicating Stokes. Stokes obtained a $9.6 million civil settlement.

» READ MORE: ‘Sex for Lies’: Philly homicide detectives allegedly facilitated sexual encounters for jailhouse informants to get their cooperation

And this spring, William Franklin’s conviction of the murder of Joseph Hollis was overturned after 44 years, though District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office has filed a notice of appeal.

In Harvey’s case, prosecutors did not agree that Harvey has proven innocence or even prosecutorial misconduct — but said the undisclosed evidence could entitle him to a new trial.

Still, on Wednesday, Harvey’s family and supporters — an overflow crowd that filled the gallery and jury box, and stood lining the walls of the courtroom — rejoiced. Many in the audience were connections he had made as a founder of Real Street Talk, a grassroots antiviolence organization that worked inside and outside of Pennsylvania prisons.

Missing was Harvey’s mother, Katie Robinson, who is 86 years old. The family decided to surprise her at his homecoming party.

“She said she is not going to believe it until she can touch him,” said Harvey’s wife of 27 years, Karen Brinkley.

Brinkley said her husband’s homecoming is a testament to his tenacity. He filed six post-conviction petitions over the course of his four decades in prison.

“He is truly an example to the innocent, to never give up, to persevere, and to pursue his freedom,” she said.

Brinkley said she was grateful for the moment — but said she had hoped Harvey could fully clear his name of the murder, which played out in front of at least four eyewitnesses.

The case went unsolved for nine months. Then a jailhouse informant identified Harvey and two other men, Russell Williams and Howard White, as Rainey’s killers. That informant, Charles Atwell, was in jail on shooting charges when he made the statement to Gerrard and Gilbert. The only other eyewitness naming Harvey was Atwell’s associate Marvin McClain.

Atwell’s nephew, Douglas Atwell, and Atwell’s then-girlfriend both testified at a 1997 evidentiary hearing that Atwell had a special arrangement with the detectives, who let him access sex and drugs in the police headquarters. But Gerrard denied that, as did Atwell, and a judge dismissed the allegations.

One of Harvey’s codefendants, White, died in prison. Williams is still fighting to overturn his conviction.

Harvey’s three children and his grandson were ready to celebrate, and rebuild.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment all my life,” said his daughter, Sonya Barlow, who was 3 years old when her father was locked up. She spent every Sunday visiting him in prison until the pandemic shut down visits.

When her son, Saajid, was born, she started bringing him on the weekly visits. He’s now 24 years old and considers Harvey a father figure as well.

“It’s like my hero is coming home, he said. “That’s my role model.”

» READ MORE: Read the entire six-part "Homicide Files" series and explore a special misconduct database