Ex-Philadelphia detective convicted of perjury in coerced murder confession case

A former Philadelphia homicide detective accused of beating a murder suspect to obtain a confession and then lying about it in court has been convicted of obstruction and perjury charges.

Prosecutors said they would seek a prison term for James Pitts, 53, when he’s sentenced in Oct. 4, but the judge overseeing the case rejected their motion to jail Pitts until that time. Pitts, who maintains his innocence, declined comment after the verdict was handed down Tuesday after jurors had deliberated for about eight hours over two days.

Pitts has been accused of aggressive physical interrogation tactics and coercing false confessions in numerous lawsuits and complaints and in a handful of murder cases that collapsed at trial or shortly after. The charges he faced stemmed from the case of a man exonerated in the killing of a well-known jewelry store owner after spending nearly 11 years in prison.

Obina Onyiah was convicted in 2013 for the 2010 murder of jeweler William Glatz during a robbery. Both Glatz and one of the two armed robbers were killed during the exchange of gunfire.

Prosecutors have said Onyiah was convicted largely on the strength of a confession taken by Pitts. But the man maintained before, throughout, and after the trial that Pitts had beaten him and threatened him to get him to sign a false statement.

A photogrammetry expert examined video from the robbery and concluded that Onyiah was far taller than the remaining gunman in the robbery — 6-feet-3-inches compared to no taller than 5-feet-11-inches — the expert said. He was exonerated in May 2021.

“I thank the jury for rendering a fair and just verdict in this case,” Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said. “This is the first time in our city’s history that a Philadelphia detective has been found guilty of coercing a confession that led to the wrongful conviction of an innocent person. My administration will continue to seek evenhanded justice in all cases prosecuted by this office, regardless of the defendant, because no one is above the law.”