American man Daniel Saldana (Los Angeles California) was sentenced to life in prison for 45 years in 1989. He was found guilty of shooting 6 students. The incident occurred while he was driving a vehicle with other two men, and Saldana was arrested alongside the two men he was with. Apparently, they were mistaken for a criminal gang at that time.
With 33 years having passed after this incident, his case was re-opened and he was found innocent when additional evidence by the parole board was presented. Because of this, he was released from all charges which were pressed against him in 1989. This was made official through a press release made by Los Angeles County District Attorney George Carscón.
“I never lost hope, I am innocent 100%, and I have said it since day one,” those were Saldana’s words, once he was finally acquitted. After his release, 33 years from his sentence had already passed, but it was only 6 years ago when the LA County District Attorney got the information that Saldana was convicted wrongly.
In 2017, the parole board was told by one of the defendants that Saldana was never at the shooting thirty-three years ago. However, that information was not forwarded to the District Attorney’s Office, and the original sentence was never revised until 2023 when the parole board confirmed that the Californian man, who was convicted in 1989, was actually innocent.