PHILADELPHIA, PA – A wrongful conviction that has been tainted by the misconduct of former Philadelphia Police Department homicide detective Philip Nordo has been overturned by the Court of Common Pleas. On Friday, the court vacated the 2012 murder conviction of Donta Regusters for the 2010 fatal shooting of Johnathan Wilson, an unintended victim in a shootout.
Nordo, who investigated the shooting that occurred on August 28, 2010, had obtained statements from two individuals who identified Regusters as the assailant. However, both witnesses later recanted their statements during the trial, revealing that they were not true and were the result of secret promises made by Nordo. One of the witnesses testified that Nordo had promised protection against prosecution for unlawfully using a firearm during the incident, and the other stated that Nordo had promised to secure him a security job despite a prior armed robbery conviction.
The conviction of Regusters and subsequent life sentence were achieved primarily based on Nordo’s testimony and credibility, who denied making any promises or threats to obtain the statements.
Both the Philadelphia Police and District Attorney’s Office were aware of Nordo’s sexual violence crimes as early as 2005, but prosecution only occurred in 2019. Nordo is currently serving a 24½ to 49-year sentence for convictions in 2022 on charges including Rape, Sexual Assault, Official Oppression, and other offenses.
District Attorney Larry Krasner ordered the Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) to review convictions connected to Nordo. As part of the review, the CIU disclosed secret grand jury transcripts corroborating the misconduct by Nordo, leading to Regusters’ conviction being overturned.
Conviction Integrity Unit Supervisor Michael Garmisa stated that the court’s decision represented a “fair and appropriate response” to Regusters’ petition, emphasizing that Nordo’s unchecked misconduct had caused retraumatization to victims and violated constitutional rights.
Regusters, who has been incarcerated since 2013 and is now 34 years old, is expected to be released from SCI Frackville today.
The Honorable Glenn Bronson granted prosecutors’ motion to dismiss all charges related to the case. The CIU’s ongoing review of Nordo’s convictions has so far resulted in eight exonerations, three resentencings, with new trials pending for two defendants and judicial decisions pending for two co-defendants.