Edward Ryder -- Pennsylvania, 1973

True Stories of Injustice...

Edward Ryder -- Pennsylvania, 1973

Last September, Edward Ryder finally got what he has deserved for the last 20 years: freedom. Ryder was convicted in 1973 and sentenced to life imprisonment for a Philadelphia jailhouse murder he did not commit while awaiting trial on a robbery charge that was subsequently dismissed. For four long years, Jim McCloskey and Ryder’s attorney, NACDL member Leonard Sosnov, worked to gain Ryder’s freedom. Among the fruits of McCloskey’s arduous investigation were recantations by Ryder’s codefendants who had provided inculpatory testimony at trial. Key trial testimony by two jailhouse informers was also discredited when, in 1991, McCloskey obtained a sworn statement from Kenneth Webb, the man whom each informer had said would corroborate his testimony. Webb, whom neither the prosecution nor defense had bothered to interview for trial, gave CM a sworn statement in which he specifically refutes both informers’ testimony and expressly denies Ryder’s involvement in the murder.

Despite this powerful evidence of innocence, McCloskey and Sosnov could not persuade the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office to reconsider Ryder’s conviction. Nonetheless, on September 17, 1993, then Pennsylvania Acting-Governor Mark Single commuted Ryder’s life sentence after the state board of pardons had earlier recommended clemency by an unanimous vote. Among those who supported this petition and believed in Ryder’s innocence were the late Philadelphia mayor Frank Rizzo and John Green, the sheriff of Philadelphia.

Since his release from prison, Ed Ryder has moved in with a girlfriend and begun the difficult transition from prison life to the free world. On occasion, he can be seen performing at various Philadelphia jazz clubs. When he was in Graterford Prison he met several local jazz musicians through the prison’s artist-in-residence programs. These musicians became so impressed with Ryder’s character, his claim of innocence, and his jazz talent, that they decided to help Ryder book a few gigs after his release. Among those in attendance at Ryder’s premiere post-prison performance at a fancy downtown jazz club were Donald Vaughn, Graterford Prison’s superintendent; Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Richard Klein; and Ochalia Wright, a Graterford correctional officer. All of them were thrilled to see Ed Ryder finally regain his freedom. Judge Klein perhaps put it best when he said, "[J]ustice means letting innocent people out of jail as much as putting guilty people in."

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