Charges dismissed against Detroit man wrongfully convicted in 1971

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has dismissed charges against a man who was wrongfully convicted and spent 45 years in prison up until his release last year. Richard Phillips, now 71, was convicted fo first degree premeditated murder in the death of Gregory Harris back in 1971. In 1972, he was sentenced to serve concurrent terms of life in prison without parole, all based on the testimony of the victim's brother-in-law, Fred Mitchell. During a parole board hearing in 2010, the co-defendant admitted that he and Mitchell killed Harris, and that he didn’t even know Phillips at the time of the murder. Phillips’ conviction was thrown out in August 2017 and he was granted a new trial.