Man released who was wrongfully imprisoned for 33 years for murder

This writes the LA Times.

Teenagers under fire

Daniel Saldana, now 55, was convicted in 1990 of shooting at a car carrying six teenagers as they exited a high school football game in Baldwin Park, east of Los Angeles.

Two students were injured, but survived the shooting.

Saldana was 22 at the time of the shooting and worked full-time as a construction worker. He was one of three men charged with the attack. Convicted of six counts of attempted murder and one count of shooting at an occupied vehicle, Saldana was sentenced to at least 45 years to life in state prison.

But Saldana had never fired a gun, although he was not believed during the trials.

Proof of innocence in 2017

It wasn’t until 2017 that another convicted gunman told authorities during a hearing that Saldana was “in no way involved in the shooting and was not present during the incident.” This was reported by the prosecutor.

A former deputy prosecutor attended the hearing “but apparently did nothing” and failed to share exculpatory information with Saldana or his lawyer as required, prosecutor George Gascón said at a news conference yesterday.

This caused Saldana to spend another six years in prison before the prosecutor’s office reopened the case and declared him innocent, Gascón said.