Last October, CNN’s Jake Tapper, a Lower Merion native and a graduate of Barack Hebrew Academy, wrote an exposé on a controversial attempted murder conviction in Philadelphia.

C.J. Rice was only 17 years old in 2011 when he was accused of a Philadelphia shooting that wounded four people, including a 6-year-old girl, writes Liam Quinn for People.

His pediatrician, Dr. Theodore Tapper, Jake’s father, testified that Rice couldn’t have physically done the shooting because of a previous injury. One of the victims however said she saw Rice running from the scene.

Rice was convicted and sentenced to 30 to 60 years.

He may soon be set free though thanks to Dr. Tapper’s son’s profile in The Atlantic which suggested Rice received ineffective legal representation by an overworked and underpaid defense attorney.

Jake Tapper investigated Rice’s case for two years. In his article, he wrote that Rice’s attorney was “dangerously incompetent.” He also reported the many ways Rice didn’t receive effective counsel for CNN.

The coverage led to a reinvestigation into the particulars of the case and the overturning of the conviction by a federal judge.

Now the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office has 180 days to decide whether to retry the case or release Rice.

Read more about Jake Tapper’s two years of investigation into the case in People.

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