The Los Angeles County district attorney announced Friday that a man who had spent more than 38 years in prison for a 1983 murder and two attempted murders had been released after long-untested DNA evidence pointed to a different person.
Maurice Hastings‘ conviction and life sentence were overturned during a court hearing on October 20 at the request of prosecutors and his lawyers from the Los Angeles Innocence Project at California State University, Los Angeles.
“I prayed for many years for this day to come,” Hastings said at a news conference Friday, adding, “I’m not pointing fingers; I’m not standing up here a bitter man, but I just want to enjoy my life now while I have it.”
In a statement, District Attorney George Gascón said, “What has happened to Mr Hastings is a terrible injustice.” “The justice system is not perfect, and it is our obligation to act quickly when we learn of new evidence that causes us to lose confidence in a conviction.”
According to authorities, the victim in the case, Roberta Wydermyer, was sexually assaulted and killed by a single gunshot to the head. Inglewood, a Los Angeles suburb, her body was discovered in the trunk of her car.
Hastings was charged with murder under unusual circumstances, and the district attorney’s office sought the death penalty, but the jury was deadlocked. He was convicted by a second jury and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 1988.
Since his arrest, Hastings has maintained his innocence.
The coroner conducted a Sexual Assault examination during the victim’s autopsy, and semen was detected in an oral swab, according to the district attorney’s statement.
Hastings requested DNA testing in 2000, but the DA’s office denied the request. Hastings filed an innocence claim with the District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit last year, and DNA testing in June revealed that the sperm was not his.
This month, the DNA profile was entered into a state database and matched to a person convicted of armed kidnapping in which a female victim was placed in the trunk of a vehicle, as well as forced oral copulation of a woman.
This suspect, whose identity was not disclosed, died in prison in 2020.
The district attorney’s office stated that it is working with police to further investigate the deceased person’s involvement in the case.
