Maurice Hastings, who has always claimed his innocence after his conviction for a murder he never committed in 1983, has been exonerated after spending 38-years in prison.
According to the report by Associated Press, it was DNA that allowed Maurice Hastings to regain his freedom. After spending more than 38 years behind bars, Maurice Hastings was released from prison, where he was serving a life sentence for murder and two attempted murders committed in 1983. But new analyzes have cleared him, has said this Friday, October 28, the Los Angeles County prosecutor.
“I have prayed for many years for this day to come,” commented Maurice Hasting during a press conference, a week after the cancellation of his conviction.
“I don’t stand here as a bitter man, but I just want to enjoy my life now,” the man, now 69, continued.
“What happened to Mr. Hastings is a terrible injustice,” the prosecutor acknowledged in a statement. “The justice system is not perfect, and when we uncover new evidence that makes us lose faith in a conviction, it is our duty to act quickly.”
DNA matches inmate who died in 2020
In this case, the victim Roberta Wydermyer was sexually assaulted and then killed by a bullet in the head, according to the authorities. His body was later found in the trunk of his car in suburban Los Angeles. The autopsy detected traces of semen.
Maurice Hastings has always claimed his innocence in this case. But after having escaped the death penalty demanded by the prosecutor’s office at the time, he was finally found guilty and sentenced in 1988 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In 2000, the detainee asked for a DNA test, which was refused. After a new request, analyzes were finally carried out last June: they concluded that the traces of sperm found during the autopsy of Roberta Wydermyer did not correspond to the genetic fingerprints of Maurice Hastings.
The DNA profile matches that of another man, convicted of a kidnapping at gunpoint, during which he had locked his victim in the trunk of a vehicle – like Roberta Wydermyer. His name has not been released, but authorities said he died in prison in 2020.