1993

Convicted of 2nd degree murder, robbery, and conspiracy and sentenced to life without parole. Reid appealed his sentence.

1994

Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the judgment of sentence.

1997

Reid discovered new evidence that government witnesses were paid and lavished with gifts. This was never disclosed to the defense or jury. Reid filed a Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA) Appeal. An evidentiary hearing was later granted at which time the Court ordered the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office to hand over all receipts of hotel accommodations, apartment leases, and all other gifts bestowed to its witnesses - Richard King and Tyrone Mackey.

1998

Judgment was affirmed. Reid appealed to the PA Superior Court.

Judgment was affirmed. The Superior Court reasoned that although the discovery was indeed exculpatory, it was not material to Reid's guilt or innocence and would have been counterproductive to his defense. The court said that had the jury been made aware that the government witnesses were lavished with gifts, they would have also been made aware that the reason for this was because they were in the Witness Protection Program. According to Reid, one of the original three who had turned state witness (one of whom was the cousin of two of the defendants and lived in the same household), was approached by police and told that his life as well as the others had been threatened by the defendants. In response to this revelation, Reid said that they agreed, with police insistence, to be placed in the Witness Protection Program.

1998

Discovery of exculpatory statements made by government witness to trial prosecutor. These quoted remarks can be found in Author Buzz Bissinger's Best Seller - A Prayer for the City. Reid filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus arguing that his constitutional rights were violated under Brady v. Maryland . Reid introduced the payments made to government witnesses as well as the exculpatory statement made by Mackey to the trial prosecutor. Reid also introduced the fact that trial prosecutor threatened his own witness.

Reid was later granted an evidentiary hearing at which time his trial attorney Michael Wallace and former government witness Tyrone Mackey testified on Reid's behalf. Buzz Bissinger also testified to the fact that the incidents cited in his book, "A Prayer for the City," were all true. At this evidentiary hearing, the Commonwealth's lone witness was former prosecutor Michael McGovern.

2003

Judgment was affirmed. The District Court cited that Tyrone Mackey's testimony was not the most reliable because he admitted to being a perjurer. The court also stated that Author Buzz Bissinger was not present when the conversation between Mackey and trial prosecutor took place. The court did agree that Reid made a "substantial showing of the denial of his constitutional rights under Brady v. Maryland " and issued a certificate of appealability to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

2004

The 3rd Circuit Court affirmed the District Court's ruling.

2005

Giovanni, without the assistance of legal counsel (pro se), has filed a P.C.R.A. petition pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Roper v. Simmons, arguing the constitutionality of his sentence of life without parole. Giovanni is also in the process of gathering after-discovered evidence, in the hopes that he will be able to also file a supplemental P.C.R.A. petition.