I sent three innocent teenagers to prison for life

Ron Bishop was 14 when he says police forced him to make false statements on the witness stand during a 1984 murder trial. His testimony helped sentence three innocent teenagers to life in prison.

In 1983 Ron's world was turned upside down when his best friend, 14-year-old DeWitt Duckett, was shot and killed in a corridor of their school, Harlem Park Junior High in West Baltimore. Ron gave the police a full description of the lone shooter who had confronted them, but says that the police soon started to put pressure on him to identify three other Black teenagers from their neighbourhood as the assailants - Alfred Chestnut, Ransom Watkins and Andrew Stewart. Ron insisted that it wasn't them, but says the detective became so threatening that he feared for his safety, and that of his family. Alone in the interrogation room, Ron ended up signing a witness statement identifying the three 16-year-olds.

On the day of the trial Ron says he felt "trapped" into giving the same false testimony, along with some other child witnesses, even though he knew it wasn't true. All three defendants were sentenced to life in prison for felony murder.

Ron says his life was overshadowed by intense guilt over the lies he told in court as a 14-year-old, but he remained too intimidated to speak out, and distrustful of the system he saw as deeply corrupt. It would take an extraordinary 36 years before a state investigation fully exonerated the men, now known as the Harlem Park Three. Ron was at long last able to speak the truth about the actions of the police towards him.

He says he will never stop thinking about the impact his false testimony had on so many lives, but is happy finally to have helped free the three men.

This episode contains a reference to suicide. If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, you could speak to a health professional, or an organisation that offers support. Details of help available in many countries can be found at Befrienders Worldwide. www.befrienders.org

The news archive in this episode was from WJZ-TV Baltimore, WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore, and NBC News.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Rebecca Vincent

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