Former Death Row Inmate Settles Lawsuit

January 9, 2008

A former death-row inmate exonerated by DNA after 23 years in prison has settled a multimillion-dollar federal civil rights lawsuit with Delaware County, his attorney said Wednesday.

Nicholas Yarris, 46, became the first person freed from Pennsylvania's death row by DNA testing when he was released in January 2004. Yarris had first asked for the tests 16 years earlier.

"My case and other cases like it should be used to show that there are innocent men on death row and the death penalty should be abolished," Yarris said in a statement released by his attorney, John Wendell "Jack" Beavers.

As part of the settlement, Delaware County authorities were required to officially inform the family of Linda Mae Craig that there was no probable cause to show that Yarris had anything to do with her death, Beavers said.

Craig, 32, was found stabbed to death in a car near her suburban Philadelphia home in 1981.

Beavers said his client wanted to settle partly to spare Craig's family the pain of bringing the case to trial.

"Nick thinks justice has been done, but there's a rapist-murderer who hasn't been caught," he said. "The case isn't over for the victim's family until the real killer is caught."

Yarris' suit alleged that authorities in Delaware County destroyed or withheld crucial DNA evidence, leading to his long imprisonment. Some DNA samples were allowed to rot after his trial in a paper bag under a detective's desk while other samples turned up after he had been told there were none, the suit said.

Yarris was in jail on another charge when he came to the attention of authorities after saying he knew something about Craig's death. His suit states that he had read about the case in a newspaper and spoke up in hopes of getting out of jail.

DNA tests ultimately showed that genetic material found under Craig's fingernails, on her undergarments and in a pair of gloves worn by the killer belonged to another man. No one else has been charged in the case.

In the settlement, Yarris agreed to take no further legal action against any of the individual defendants named in the suit, including county detectives and prosecutors, who were accused of misconduct during his prosecution, Beavers said. He would not specify the award amount beyond saying that it was a multimillion-dollar settlement.

Yarris, who married after his release, now lives near London with his wife and baby daughter. He has become a vocal advocate against the death penalty.

Delaware County solicitor John P. McBlain called the settlement a business decision made by the county's insurance companies, not by the Delaware County Council. The county stands by its belief that it was not liable in the case, but the insurance carriers disagreed and do not need the county's consent to settle, McBlain said.

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