Appeals stretch 4 decades for a prisoner convicted on little police evidence
Associated Press
NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania man who has served 43 years of a life sentence for murder is still pursuing appeals. Steve Szarewicz insists he didn’t do it, but so far his claim hasn’t persuaded the courts. He was convicted of killing 25-year-old Billy Merriwether near Pittsburgh in 1981. But a prosecutor from that time says the case was “no prize.” That’s because it was built entirely on the shifting accounts of four jailhouse informants. Despite new evidence the 66-year-old says he has uncovered, the Pennsylvania Innocence Project says appeals in the state are particularly tough to win. Szarewicz’s case is now before the Pennsylvania Superior Court. He says he is hoping for a legal breakthrough.
