A Families United For Justice Case A list of ethics violations, civil rights violations, judicial misconduct, legal misconduct and prosecutorial misconduct experienced by Danny Castro in Pennsylvania courts.

[Case # 9703-1032] On the night of January 2nd, the 26th District Police responded to a radio call of a shooting of two victims.  Upon the officer’s arrival the body of a seventeen-year-old Hispanic , Hiroc Ortega was found lying on the highway with a gunshot wound to his head.  Also found was Hiroc’s father Sotero Ortega with a gun shot to his face. The father survived the injuries, sadly his son died.
Later that night a vehicle with four young Hispanic males was stopped by the police and among one of the passenger was Danny Castro.  Soon after, he was displaced from a police vehicle and placed in front of a spotlight for identification by witnesses he could not see or identify.  He was later taken to the Round House (Central Booking for the Philadelphia Police) and handcuffed to a chair bolted to the floor. He was intimidated and interrogated by hostile police officers twice his size and three time his weight. Danny Castro's mother was never present during the interrogation process, neither was a lawyer.  However, the police were unable to extract a guilty confession from Danny Castro.  Despite this fact, the case was taken to trial and Danny Castro was tried as an adult at the age of fourteen; like Jeremiah Bourgeois, Josue Orozco and Patrick Armstrong. (see links)

At trial the evidence presented was a “First Down Jacket” (a popular piece of clothing at the time), which led to a second-degree murder conviction, aggravated assault and a sentence of life in prison with out parole. The cytology results from blood splatter and the gun-residue test results were never introduced as evidence to establish he had no connection with the crime.

Why Was Danny Castro Unable To Prove His innocence?  Danny Castro has questioned whether being a minority, a Puerto Rican and living in North Philadelphia (known to be one of the poorest section of the city) did, in fact, influence the Judges decision.  Did the judge and the prosecutor take into account that he’s a minority and did this fact prejudice the case?  Daniel Castro deserves an opportunity free of biases and prejudice to vindicate himself, just like Christopher Trasher, and Joshua Phillips.  Daniel Castro’s case raises serious issues of wrongful conviction, prejudice and unfair treatment of a child. The evidence excludes Daniel Castro as the perpetrator.  So why does he still remain in prison?