Wire
Baltimore detectives face revived evidence-fabrication claims
The ruling keeps part of Kenneth McPherson and Eric Simmons’ civil case alive after their murder convictions were vacated in state court. The panel also found the trial judge should have allowed testimony from the late Marcus King.
Kenneth McPherson and Eric Simmons spent years in prison after a 1995 Maryland jury convicted them of conspiring to murder Anthony Wooden. A state court later vacated those convictions, and a federal appeals court has now revived part of their lawsuit against Baltimore detectives over claims that evidence was fabricated and witness material was withheld.
Now the Fourth Circuit has said part of their civil case can go forward again. In a published opinion on May 21, 2026, the court vacated in part, affirmed in part and remanded the case, leaving at least some of the brothers’ claims against Baltimore detectives in play.
What the court put back on the table
McPherson and Simmons sued the Baltimore Police Department, two detectives, unknown employees and the State’s Attorney after their release. Their federal claims included allegations of fabrication of evidence and the deliberate withholding of exculpatory evidence, the kind of misconduct that can turn a criminal case into a long-running fight over who was responsible for the original conviction.
The appellate panel said the district court had wrongly excluded key testimony from the late Marcus King and erred in dismissing the brothers’ fabrication claims. It did not revive every theory they raised, but it did send the case back for further proceedings, giving the brothers another chance to pursue accountability for what happened before their convictions were erased.