The Los Angeles County district attorney announced Friday that a man who spent more than 38 years in jail for a 1983 murder and two attempted murders has been freed after decades-old DNA evidence led to a different suspect.
At a hearing held in court on October 20 at the request of the prosecution and Maurice Hastings’ attorneys from the Los Angeles Innocence Project at California State University, Los Angeles, the 69-year-conviction old’s and life sentence were overturned.
District Attorney George Gascón issued a statement saying, “What has happened to Mr. Hastings is a grave injustice.” “The legal system is not perfect, thus it is our responsibility to intervene quickly when we become aware of new information that makes us doubt a conviction. ”
Roberta Wydermyer, the victim in the case, was shot once in the head, killing her instantly. Her body was discovered in the car’s trunk.
The district attorney’s office sought the death penalty when Hastings was charged with exceptional circumstances murder, but the jury was deadlocked. He was found guilty by a second jury, and in 1988, he was given a life sentence without the possibility of release.
Since his arrest, Hastings has maintained his innocence.
The coroner performed a sexual assault examination at the time of the victim’s autopsy, and semen was found in an oral swab, according to the statement.
In 2000, Hastings requested DNA testing, but the district attorney’s office declined. The Conviction Integrity Unit of the district attorney received a claim of innocence from Hastings last year, and DNA testing in June revealed that the semen was not his.
The DNA profile was put into a state database this month and was matched to a person who was convicted of an armed kidnapping in which a female victim was placed in a vehicle’s trunk as well as the forced oral copulation of a woman.
This unnamed culprit, who received a 56-year prison term for these murders, has now passed away.
The district attorney’s office stated that it is collaborating with the police to conduct additional research into the deceased’s possible connection to the case.
DNA evidence releases a California guy from decades-long incarceration
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