09 March 2023 :
(March 7, 2023) - California Sought the Death Penalty--38 Years Later, the Defendant is Exonerated
In a case that demonstrates the risks inherent in the death penalty, Maurice Hastings was found “factually innocent” in Los Angeles of the crime that could have sent him to death row and eventual execution. On March 1, 2023, Judge William Ryan dismissed all charges and freed Hastings, who was serving a sentence of life without parole.
Hastings, 69, was freed from prison in October 2022 after DNA from the 1983 attack identified another suspect. He had been serving a life sentence for the crime, despite the fact that witnesses supported his alibi during the time of the murder and no physical evidence linked him to the scene, according to a news release from the Los Angeles Innocence Project.
The District Attorney’s Office had sought the death penalty for Hastings. During his incarceration, Hastings maintained his innocence. The DA’s Office repeatedly denied his request for DNA testing until finally in June of 2022, with the help of the Innocence Project and the DA’s Conviction Integrity Unit, a DNA test essentially excluded him from the murder.
An oral swab from a sexual assault kit collected shortly after the attack was finally tested in June 2022, according to California State University, Los Angeles, which hosts the Los Angeles Innocence Project. The DNA conclusively ruled out Hastings and pointed instead to Kenneth Packnett, who died in 2020 while serving a prison sentence for kidnapping and rape.
The current DA, George Gascón, commented, “Maurice Hastings survived a nightmare. He spent nearly four decades in prison exhausting every avenue to prove his innocence while being repeatedly denied. But Mr. Hastings has remained steadfast and faithful that one day he would hear a judge proclaim his innocence.”
At a news conference, Hastings, now 69, stated, “I was really overwhelmed. It was kind of unreal. In a sense, you want it to be true, but then you don’t want to be disappointed. I’ve been disappointed. I had tears. I asked, ‘Could this be it? Could this be the end?’ I was very emotional.”
He’s currently participating in an entrepreneurship boot camp and performing outreach with homeless communities.
“As time goes on, I’ll look to do some other things that give back to people,” he said.
https://www.innocencela.org/maurice-hastings
https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=6535
