A man who spent nearly three decades behind bars after being convicted of a 1993 murder in East Los Angeles was declared Friday to be factually innocent of the crime.
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Last October, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge H. Clay Jacke II had vacated Humberto "Beto" Duran's conviction and potential life prison sentence for the Dec. 18, 1993, killing of Albert Gonzalez.
Prosecutors noted then in a court document that the only percipient witness to the killing has repeatedly recanted her testimony during the trial that he was one of the two gunmen. The document cited "ineffective assistance of trial counsel and new evidence of actual innocence."
Duran filed a motion seeking to be declared factually innocent, with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office saying that it subsequently determined following a thorough investigation that he had met his legal burden.
Duran -- who was convicted in 1994 of one count each of first-degree murder and attempted murder -- was released from state prison in January 2023 after being found suitable for parole, according to the District Attorney's Office.
"Today is a monumental day for Mr. Duran, who was cleared of a crime he did not commit after more than three decades," District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement. "Justice takes many forms, and I often announce arrests, convictions, and sentences. However, today justice required the setting aside of a conviction and agreement to a motion for factual innocence."
Megan Baca, director of California Innocence Advocates, added in the statement, "The trauma that Mr. Duran suffered for three decades is unfathomable. We are deeply grateful to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, specifically Deputy District Attorney (Lara) Bazan and District Attorney Hochman, and to the court for seeing the truth, applying the correct legal standard, and ensuring that Mr. Duran is finally vindicated."
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