Why We Know David Is Innocent
The evidence is overwhelming. 21 witnesses have sworn that David is innocent, including one former Clinton prisoner who states that he overheard correctional officers talking about how the facility was going to “give the body to the chink.”

The state’s evidence against David consists of two alleged eyewitnesses: Richard LaPierre and Peter Dellfava. Richard LaPierre is a prison guard who claims to have witnessed the murder from over 400 feet away. The second witness, Peter Dellfava, testified that he saw David attack Tyrone Julius from just a few feet away.

Recently, Mr. Dellfava confessed to a private investigator that he lied at David’s trial. Mr. Dellfava now wants to rectify his mistake by testifying about what really happened. Here is an excerpt from his affidavit:

“I did not see David Wong the day of the murder. The first time I ever saw David Wong in person was in court. That was also the last time I saw him. After the killing they filed us all out. I went to my cell, then ate dinner. Not too long after that, pretty early in the evening, a correctional officer cracked open my door. The correctional officer told me that a sergeant wanted to see me. I went to a room where the sergeant was waiting on me.

I was friendly with the sergeant. I had a job in the kitchen area where I would cook for the correctional officers and I got friendly with him there. The conversation went as follows:

The sergeant asked me if I had seen what was going on. I told him yeah, I did. He asked me what I saw. I told him I saw a black guy go up and stab the other guy. I was just going with the odds when I said that. I figured the majority of prisoners are black, so let me go that way.

‘It was an oriental guy, wasn’t it?’ the sergeant asked me. I’ll never forget that. ‘If you already know who it is, then why are you asking me?,’ I said to him.

I told him that if I testified I wanted a transfer to somewhere close to home, and a recommendation for the parole board. After the sergeant walked me through the story, he had a state police officer come in and take a statement from me. I just stuck to the story that the sergeant and I discussed.

I need to do the right thing. . . I’m giving this statement because David Wong is doing some time right now that he doesn’t deserve. I’m hurting him. I’ve hurt him for a long time and that’s not right.”

Peter Dellfava was rewarded for his false testimony with a transfer to a safer prison closer to home, a letter written by the prosecutor who recommended him for parole, and several hundred dollars.