Pa. Board of Pardons hears, and rejects, clemency plea for Bucks County man

The Pennsylvania Board of Pardons recommended two more life-sentenced men for clemency on Friday — but declined to grant that mercy to John Brookins, a Bucks County man who has for three decades maintained his innocence in the brutal 1990 murder of Sheila Ginsberg in her Bristol Township home.

The board has been more active than any in the commonwealth in decades, recommending 40 lifers for release — and its chairman, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, has sought to reframe its role as both a release-valve for the aging lifer population and a last resort to overcome excessive and wrongful convictions. Those have included people who have admitted their crimes and expressed deep remorse, as well as a few others who proclaimed their innocence but nonetheless persuaded the board they deserved a “second chance.”

Brookins’ application drew unusual scrutiny both because Brookins has adamantly maintained his innocence — and because of fierce opposition by Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub. Brookins has also argued that DNA evidence could clear him. But Weintraub’s office refused to run the tests, saying there’s no chance they could provide any exculpatory information.

At the board’s hearing, Weintraub acknowledged that Brookins had an exemplary prison record. Brookins, a yoga instructor and gardener, has never incurred a misconduct.

“The record, however, is insufficient to warrant release for this gruesome crime after no more than 30 years,” Weintraub said. He accused Fetterman of having already determined Brookins was innocent, and said that Brookins’ lack of remorse or acknowledgement of wrongdoing should prohibit clemency. His deputy, Jill Graziano, said instead he had waged a “30-year disinformation campaign.”

“You just keep playing roulette with the evidence and hoping you get lucky,” Weintraub said. “That’s exactly what he’s doing here.”

» READ MORE: Bucks man imprisoned 30 years says DNA can clear him of murder. The DA won’t run the test.

Craig Cooley, a lawyer for Brookins, said the case bears many red flags of wrongful convictions. “The only manipulation and disinformation in this case is not from John Brookins. It’s from the DA,” he said.

The five-person board — comprising a psychologist, a corrections expert, and a victim advocate, along with Attorney General Josh Shapiro and Fetterman — questioned Weintraub extensively on the facts of the case. Fetterman repeatedly asked, “What is the harm of affirming that Mr. Brookins’ DNA is on the murder weapon?”

Weintraub said that doing so would not “advance the ball” nor provide clarity, no matter the result of the test.

Shapiro noted that ultimately the board is not set up to investigate and evaluate guilt. “We are not the right body to adjudicate these innocence claims, yet we’re thrust into this position,” he said.

» READ MORE: Lt. Gov. Fetterman wants to use clemency to free those wrongfully convicted. But the Board of Pardons is pushing back.

Sheila Ginsberg’s son, Barry, spoke in opposition to Brookins’ bid for clemency, calling him a violent man and a con artist. “This is a gut-wrenching, gut-wrenching whole ordeal, with PTSD.” He described returning home for Christmas to find his mother dead, and the lifelong mental and physical health consequences that ensued. He said he lost everything, including his job and his home, in the fallout. “All I can talk to is a damn tombstone.”

In the end, only Fetterman voted in favor of Brookins’ application — but then qualified it as a sort of protest vote against Weintraub’s intransigence. Fetterman previously lamented the board’s inaction on other cases he felt had compelling evidence of innocence, like that of Pedro Reynoso, who was convicted of a murder that occurred when numerous witnesses say he was in the Dominican Republic.

Two other men who received the board’s support for clemency were both Philadelphians who have served more than four decades in prison.

Irvin Moore, 74, was convicted of murder for the fatal 1969 shooting of Granville Sawyer, in Sawyer’s home. He’s the patriarch of a large family that’s eager to have him home.

James Inge, 67, was 19 when he committed the robbery and fatal shooting of Maxwell Pope. He rejected a deal for eight to 20 years in prison.

“The commonwealth felt he deserved eight years for what he had done at 19 as a heroin addict,” said Marc Bookman, the director of the Atlantic Center for Capital Representation, who spoke for Inge at his hearing. Inge’s trial judge recommended that Inge receive commutation in 1992. Instead, Inge served 48 years in prison. “Mr. Inge has been almost a perfect inmate.”

Inge had been considered for commutation a year and a half ago, but the board shelved the case for reasons that were never clear to his wife, Andrea Inge. She’s not sure what changed since then.

“I just prayed and prayed and prayed. I think a lot of prayers helped,” she said.

She’s cognizant of the pain her husband caused many years ago, but also looking forward to a future with him. He has a job as a welder lined up, and they plan to live together outside Philadelphia. He’ll likely continue what has become his life’s work, advocating for reforms that would release elderly prisoners.

“I’m still concerned about everyone else that’s left,” she said. “It’s a bittersweet homecoming. We’ll keep praying for the rest of them. We’ll keep praying for all of them.”