A Kensington man spent more than 30 years in prison, including 10 years on death row, for a crime he did not commit. On July 5, Maryland attempted to rectify its mistake.
John Huffington was awarded $2.9 million by the Maryland Board of Public Works, which includes Gov. Wes Moore, on Wednesday. Huffington sought financial reparation under the 2021 “Walter Lomax Act,” which established a clear process for exonerees to receive compensation.
“He was literally sentenced to death for crimes that he never committed,” Moore said.
In May 1981, Diane Becker was found stabbed to death in an Abington RV park. Later, Becker’s boyfriend, Joseph Hudson, was found dead on an Abington farm. The killings would become known as the “Memorial Day murders.”
In 1983, at 18 years old, Huffington was sentenced to life in prison for the slayings.
However, the prosecution was partially based on expert testimony matching Huffington’s hair type to hair found at the crime scene. But currently, that category of forensic analysis has been deemed scientifically unreliable. Additionally, a second suspect in the murders, who was eventually convicted of first-degree murder, testified against Huffington.
Huffington maintained his innocence throughout his time in prison.
In 2011, the Washington Post reported that in 1999, the Federal Bureau of Investigation raised significant concerns to the prosecutor in the Huffington case. The concerns focused on Joseph I. Cassilly and the hair analysis. Cassilly never disclosed the FBI document. He would later be disbarred by the state’s Supreme Court in 2021.
An ensuing DNA test in 2013 revealed the hair at the crime scene was not Huffington’s. His conviction would be overturned by a judge that same year, and he was released from prison.
It took ten more years for Huffington to receive full exoneration. Former Gov. Larry Hogan granted Huffington a pardon this January, citing prosecutorial misconduct. Since his release from prison in 2013, Huffington has worked at Second Chance, a non-profit organization that provides job opportunities for people with criminal records.
“He has been willing to take his pain and turn it into purpose,” Moore said.
