Crime & Safety
Judge Tosses Conviction of 'Innocent' Man Imprisoned For 20 Years
A man who already served 20 years of a life sentence for an attempted murder in Compton is factually innocent, a judge ruled Tuesday.
LOS ANGELES, CA — A man who already served 20 years of a life sentence for a 1996 attempted murder and robbery at a Compton gas station was released from custody Tuesday and declared "factually innocent" of the crime.
Marco Contreras, now 41, was ordered released by a Los Angeles judge in response to a joint petition filed by the District Attorney's Office and Loyola Law School's Los Angeles Project for the Innocent.
According to the law school project, an eyewitness to the shooting inaccurately identified Contreras as the shooter, but he was actually home sleeping at the time. Loyola officials said a combination of factors led to Contreras' conviction, including the fact that he looks similar to the actual culprit and the coincidence that Contreras' vehicle, which he had lent to someone else, was actually in the vicinity at the time of the crime.
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The law school's Project for the Innocent investigated Contreras' case and presented the findings to the District Attorney's Office's Conviction Review Unit, which took another look at his conviction. According to Loyola, the probe not only determined that Contreras was innocent, but led to the arrest of another suspect in the case.
City News Service; Photo: Shutterstock
