Wrongfully Convicted California Man Exonerated After 25 Years in Prison
Miguel Solorio, a California man who spent 25 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit, had his conviction overturned and was ordered to be released by a judge. Prosecutors agreed that he had been wrongly convicted. Solorio's attorneys argued that his conviction was based on faulty eyewitness identification practices. The case relied on a now-debunked method of repeatedly showing photos of the same person to witnesses, contaminating their memory. Despite initial witnesses not identifying Solorio as the suspect, law enforcement continued to present his photo until some eventually identified him. The district attorney's office acknowledged the need for new scientific consensus on witness memory testing. The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has up to five days to process Solorio's release.
