Two men who spent decades behind bars on murder charges have walked free from prison after prosecutors ruled they did not commit the crimes.
Giovanni Hernandez and Miguel Solorio were only teens at the time of their convictions, and both spent years in Los Angeles prisons after being wrongfully found guilty of separate murders that both happened in drive-by shootings.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón formerly apologised to the men at a news conference and praised his Conviction Integrity and Habeas units for working on adding evidence to the cases.
“I understand that this won’t bring back the many years each of you endured in prison, and I hope that our apology is some small comfort for you as you begin your new life,” he said.
The district attorney said their convictions were a “grave error” and is committed to preventing other wrongful convictions like these from happening again.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón apologised to the two wrongly convicted men— (Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office)
At the age of 14, Mr Hernadez found himself arrested for a crime he did not commit and was charged with a drive-by shooting in 2006 in Culver City that killed 16-year-old Gary Ortiz.
Mr Hernandez and his family knew he was innocent all that time, as they maintained he was at home with his family when the shooting occurred.
Trying to prove his innocence, Mr Hernandez submitted his first claim to the LADA’s Conviction Integrity Unity (CIU) for a conviction review but was denied.
Mr Hernandez, now around the age of 29, had his case resubmitted by attorney Marisa Harris of the Juvenile Innocence and Fair Sentencing Clinic at Loloya Law School.
The CIU reopened the investigation into his case and found new evidence and witnesses previously not interviewed in the initial investigation.
Mr Hernandez was only 14 years old when he was convicted— (Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office )
With this, alongside reassessing Mr Hernandez’s phone records from the day of the shooting that shows he was not near the crime scene, it was clear to investigators he was not involved.
Mr Hernandez’s attorney, Ms Harris, pointed out how unjust her client’s life has been when stark evidence proving his innocence existed all this time.
“Gio was only 14 years old when he was sentenced to die in prison for a crime he did not commit,” she said.
“Like so many young people serving long, adult sentences in California’s prisons, Gio was given no hope for a future outside of prison walls. However, despite this grave injustice, Gio found his way to the light.”
A similar process took place for prosecutors to finally realise Mr Solorio’s innocence.
In 1998, Mr Solorio was 19 when his life changed completely when he was wrongfully detained for a fatal drive-by shooting in Whittier that killed 81-year-old Mary Bramlett.
Mr Solorio was thought to be the man who shot the victim, and he was sentenced to life without parole despite believing he was completely innocent of the murder.
Mr Solorio spoke about the pain he had to endure in prison knowing he was innocent— (Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office)
In 2021, when Mr Solorio was around the age of 42 and spending over two decades in prison, his attorney, Ellen Eggers, submitted an innocence claim to the CIU and the Northern California Innocence Project also filed a Habeas petition in July 2023.
The CIU and the Habeas Unit re-investigated the case and found that Mr Solorio was misidentified as his brother, Pedro Solorio, in a photo lineup.
At the press conference, Mr Solorio talked about the pain he endured all those years. He also said that adjusting to life outside of prison has been very difficult – meeting new family members, learning how to use an iPhone and even going shopping for shoes.
He also spoke about the many errors that can occur in photo lineups and called for other prisoners who were convicted using this method to have their cases reviewed.
Mr Hernandez spent around 17 years behind bars and was exonerated this year around the age of 31, spending over half of his life in prison.
Mr Solorio spent nearly 25 years in prison, all because of mistaken identity and is around 44 now he has been released, also spending his almost entire adult life in prison.
Authorities said they will be investigating both cases to find out who should have been convicted for the murders.
