A California man who has served 33 years behind bars for attempted murder has reopened his case after the state determined he was guilty of the crime, the Los Angeles County district attorney announced Thursday. was not involved.
District Attorney George Gascon said Daniel Saldana, 55, will now be allowed to walk free because he was one of three people charged in a 1990 shooting near a high school.
“I know it won’t bring you back the decades you spent in prison. But I hope our apology will bring you some comfort as you start your new life,” Gascon told a news conference. “
He said: “Not only is it a tragedy to put people in prison for a crime they didn’t commit, but every time an injustice of this magnitude occurs, the real people responsible are still out there to commit other crimes.” Are.”
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In this undated photo provided by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, Danielle Saldana shakes hands. Saldana, who spent 33 years in a California prison for attempted murder, has been declared innocent and released. (Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office via AP)
Saldana was arrested in 1990, when he was 22, for allegedly firing a gun at a car filled with six teenagers.
He was convicted of six counts of attempted murder, one count of shooting at an occupied vehicle, and was sentenced to 45 years in state prison. Two other suspects were charged with the shooting.
Gascon’s office reopened the case in February after another convicted assailant told authorities in 2017 that Saldana “was not involved in the shooting in any way, and she was not present during the incident,” the DA said.
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Gascon said that after six years of testifying, Saldana was declared innocent.
This undated photo provided by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office shows Daniel Saldana, right, shaking hands with Los Angeles District Attorney Jorge Gascon, left. Saldana’s attorney, Mike Romano, is in the middle. (Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office via AP)
The delay was attributed to a former deputy district attorney who was present at a parole hearing where the convicted assailant testified as acquittal. The DA said the officer “obviously did nothing” with the testimony, failing to notify Saldana or her attorney, as required by law.
Saldana appeared alongside Gascon at a press conference on Thursday, saying she was grateful to be free.
Saldana said, “It’s a struggle, every day knowing you’re innocent and here I am, locked in a cell, crying out for help.”
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This undated photo, provided by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, shows Daniel Saldana, right, his attorney Mike Romano, center, and fellow exonery Frankie Carrillo, back left. (Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office via AP)
He said: “I am very happy that this day has come.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
