Daniel Saldana, 55, was freed from prison earlier this month after the Los Angeles County D.A.'s office acted on information provided by the state parole board that pointed to his innocence in a case where he was convicted of attempted murder decades ago.
A 55-year-old Baldwin Park man was freed from state prison earlier this month after prosecutors and parole officials uncovered years-old evidence that pointed to his innocence in a 1989 shooting, officials announced Thursday.
In February 2023, however, the parole board turned over transcripts from that hearing to the district attorney’s office’s Conviction Integrity Unit, which quickly launched an investigation that raised questions about Saldana’s guilt, according to Gascón. The office joined a motion from Saldana to have his conviction tossed, and Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William Ryan granted a finding of factual innocence on May 11.
Saldana, who was 22 when he was arrested, said he was working in construction at the time of the shooting and had no idea why he’d been linked to the crime. Michael Romano, who is the chair of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s committee on revising the penal code, served as advisory counsel to the Saldana family in recent months. Romano said Gallegos initially alleged that Saldana was involved in the shooting when interviewed by police, though she never testified at trial.
While the unnamed prosecutor’s actions were certainly troubling, they may not have violated ethical norms, according to Laurie Levenson, founder of the Project for the Innocent at Loyola Marymount University. The ethics rule that would require the prosecutor to disclose such information or face discipline from the bar association was not in effect until 2018.
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