A Chicago man has spent nearly a decade behind bars for murder — thanks to the eyewitness testimony of a witness who has since admitted to being blind.
Darien Harris was incarcerated in 2011 at the age of 18, just a week before graduating from high school, and accused of fatally shooting a man at a Chicago gas station.
He now has a chance at freedom after it was revealed that star witness Dexter Saffold is legally blind, and he will get a new trial with his conviction overturned.
Harris, now 30, was sentenced to 76 years in prison for Rondell Moore's murder after a 2014 trial, despite no physical evidence linking him to the crime.
Darien Harris, 30, was convicted of murdering Rondell Moore, 23, in 2011, and sentenced to 76 years in prison in 2014
All prosecutors had was Saffold's claim that Harris was the man seen on surveillance footage from the BP station on South Side Chicago who then fired the fatal shots off camera.
“All this time I was trying to tell people he was lying… and this is what happened. He actually lied,” Harris said CBS.
Saffold was asked about his eyesight during the trial and told the court he had no vision problems and could see clearly.
But in a 2019 CBS interview, he admitted he was legally blind, though he still insisted he saw Harris pull the trigger.
“I developed glaucoma as a result of an eye disease,” he said.
'They didn't do anything wrong because they didn't know. I didn't have to tell anyone about my medical history.'
Saffold also filed a federal disability lawsuit in 2003, in which two doctors confirmed that he was legally blind.
Harris, now 30, was sentenced to 76 years in prison for the murder of Rondell Moore after a 2014 trial, despite no physical evidence linking him to the crime
All prosecutors had was Saffold's claim that Harris was the man seen on surveillance video from the BP station on South Side Chicago who then fired the fatal shots off camera.
Dexter Saffold (pictured with face obscured) was the key witness whose testimony convicted Harris – until it turned out he was legally blind
He then claimed in a 2018 interview with Harris' lawyers that he told prosecutors before the trial that he had glaucoma and was legally blind.
Harris always maintained his innocence and claimed he was at home watching Le Bron James play in the N.B.A final between the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks at the time of the shooting.
Cook County Judge Diana Kenworthy last week overturned Harris' conviction and sentence, saying simply, “So we're going to start over.”
Harris will be retried on charges of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm.
The judge, citing the seriousness of the charges, declined to release Harris while he awaits his retrial.
Harris, handcuffed at the ankles and wearing blue prison scrubs, said nothing during the brief court hearing.
He waved to his wife, mother and an uncle who were in the courtroom before he was led back to jail.
Harris was incarcerated in 2011 at age 18, just a week before graduating from high school
Rondell Moore, 23, was shot and killed after driving into a BP gas station in Woodlawn after 8 p.m. on June 7, 2011, due to car trouble.
Nakesha Harris, Darien's mother, told reporters after the hearing that she had hoped her son would be released without being retried.
“They are wasting taxpayers' hard-earned money,” she said.
“We retry a case without physical (or) DNA evidence. All the witnesses recanted (and) changed their stories, and the judge based his judgment on the testimony of a blind man.”
The defendant's wife, Jessica Harris, told reporters, “I thought I was going to have him home for the holidays, so it's disappointing in a way to see them retry him.”
“But I'm confident he'll be home soon.”
Rondell Moore, 23, drove into a BP gas station in Woodlawn after 8 p.m. on June 7, 2011, due to car trouble.
Moore was assisted by a local mechanic who arrived at the station on his bicycle shortly afterwards.
Moore was shot three times and died in a nearby parking lot as he tried to flee. The 51-year-old mechanic survived gunshot wounds to his back and arm.
The station's surveillance system did not capture the shooting.
“All this time I was trying to tell people he was lying… and this is what happened. He actually lied,” Harris said
Harris' wife, Jessica Harris, told reporters, “I thought I was going to have him home for the holidays, so it's disappointing in a way to see them re-tie him.”
But prosecutors said the video did show a person walking away from a black Lexus and around the gas station toward the area where the shooting occurred, then running away shortly afterward.
The video showed a man whose thin build and short haircut generally matched Harris, but the suspect's face was not visible.
Saffold picked Harris out of a police lineup and also identified him in court during the trial.
Cook County Judge Nicholas Ford said he based his ruling primarily on Saffold's testimony.
Prosecutors vowed to pursue a new trial, claiming they have credible evidence from other eyewitnesses pointing to Harris' guilt.
Harris attorney Myerscough-Mueller alleged that police misconduct played a role in these identifications.
Harris is due back in court on December 19, where a trial date may be set.