Attorneys for a wrongfully convicted man who filed a lawsuit against the city were ordered by a judge to apologize for a recording of a woman screaming that rattled a South Philadelphia neighborhood last month.
Rachel Robbins told NBC10 she heard the sound of a woman screaming around 5 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 23, along the 1900 block of 15th Street in South Philadelphia. The recording that was playing from a loudspeaker could be heard from several blocks away and continued for an hour despite residents asking Philadelphia police in the area to stop it.
“One of the most awful things about it is that anyone in our neighborhood right here who has been a victim of violent crime, they’re having to hear a woman screaming projected on this sound system at 5 a.m.," Robbins said. "It’s retraumatizing and so awful."
Robbins told NBC10 she contacted the city and later received a response from City Solicitor Renee Garcia. In the letter, obtained by NBC10, Garcia stated the recording was conducted by an expert who was retained by a person who is currently suing the city of Philadelphia.
Get top local stories in Philly delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC Philadelphia's News Headlines newsletter.
“As such, we had limited control over the conditions of the testing,” Garcia wrote. “I raise this not to excuse what happened, but to provide context as to why the individuals representing the City on location did not shut down the testing immediately.”
Garcia also apologized to Robbins in the letter.
“That being said, the City should have insisted that the expert provide a much more detailed proposal for the scope and conditions of the testing that was to be performed for our review,” Garcia wrote. “We could have then sought court intervention if necessary. We have certainly learned lessons from this experience, and once again apologize that it was at the expense of you and your neighbors.”
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
NBC10 reached out to Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffman & Freudenberger, LLP, the New York-based law firm responsible for the recording.
“We conducted a test in connection with an important civil rights case and did not intend to cause harm to anybody,” the spokesperson wrote. “We understand why residents are upset, and we want to sincerely apologize to the community and anybody affected.”
The spokesperson did not reveal any details behind the civil rights case or why the recording had to be used.
“We feel terrible about the negative impact on the community,” the spokesperson wrote. “We cannot talk with more specificity about the details given ongoing litigation.”
NBC10 later determined the law firm is representing Termaine Hicks, a Philadelphia man who was exonerated and freed from prison in 2020 after being wrongfully convicted of rape in 2001.
Court documents obtained by NBC10 revealed the sound test was done by a production company hired by the firm in relation to Hicks' lawsuit against the city. According to the documents, the testing was done to verify claims that Hicks heard the screams of the rape victim from two blocks away in South Philadelphia back in 2001.
On Oct. 10, a judge ordered that Hicks' attorneys issue a formal apology to the residents impacted by the scream test. The judge's order included a map of the impacted areas that were marked in red and blue colors.
"Plaintiff’s counsel shall prepare a written apology that explains their transgression and takes full responsibility for the repercussions of the scream test," the judge wrote. "Plaintiff’s counsel shall mail the apology letter, with a copy of the opinion, to every home and business on the blocks marked in red or blue on the map below. Further, at least one of plaintiff’s counsel shall personally visit the homes and businesses on the blocks marked in blue below to reasonably endeavor to apologize in person. The visits must be performed by one or more lawyers who have appeared in this case on behalf of plaintiff."
The judge said the attorneys have until the end of October to file a certification that they complied with the order, including an explanation of the steps that were taken and a copy of the apology letter.
