A man who spent more than 38 years behind bars for a 1983 murder and two attempted murders has been released from a California prison after long-untested DNA evidence pointed to a different person, the Los Angeles county district attorney said.
The conviction of Maurice Hastings, 69, and a life sentence were vacated during a 20 October court hearing at the request of prosecutors and his lawyers from the Los Angeles Innocence Project at California State University.
“I prayed for many years that this day would come,” Hastings said at a news conference on Friday. “I am not pointing fingers. I am not standing up here a bitter man, but I just want to enjoy my life now while I have it.”
The district attorney, George Gascón, said in a statement: “What has happened to Mr Hastings is a terrible injustice. The justice system is not perfect, and when we learn of new evidence which causes us to lose confidence in a conviction, it is our obligation to act swiftly.”
The victim in the case, Roberta Wydermyer, was sexually assaulted and killed by a single gunshot to the head, authorities said. Her body was found in the trunk of her vehicle in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood.
Hastings was charged with special-circumstance murder and the district attorney’s office sought the death penalty but the jury deadlocked. A second jury convicted him and he was sentenced in 1988 to life in prison without parole.
Hastings has maintained his innocence since he was arrested.
At the time of the victim’s autopsy, the coroner conducted a sexual assault examination and semen was detected in an oral swab, the district attorney’s statement said.
Hastings sought DNA testing in 2000 but the DA’s office denied the request. Hastings submitted a claim of innocence to the DA’s Conviction Integrity Unit last year and DNA testing last June found that the semen was not his.
The DNA profile was put into a state database this month and matched that of a person 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.
Sign up to First Edition Free daily newsletter Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you through the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
That suspect, whose name was not released, died in prison in 2020.
The district attorney’s office said it was working with police to further investigate the involvement of the dead person in the case.
Gouranga56 on October 29th, 2022 at 13:15 UTC »
I mean I am torn on the uplifting part of this. I mean he's out which is awesome but they stole 38 years of his life
Frency2 on October 29th, 2022 at 12:58 UTC »
Those 38 years will never come back. I wish there was a better system to avoid such situations.
SlightlyScruffy on October 29th, 2022 at 12:42 UTC »
He asked for a DNA comparison 20 years ago. The DA refused.