A man from California has been freed from prison after a new investigation cleared him of rape and kidnapping.
When he was just 18 years old, Gerardo Cabanillas was charged with fourteen felony counts, including robbery, kidnapping, carjacking, and rape.
As per the California Innocence Project, which collaborated with The Innocence Center on Cabanillas' case, police failed to find any physical evidence tying him to the 1996 crimes and it was reported that some of the victims had serious doubts about their identifications of Cabanillas’s photo from a six-pack lineup.
While being interrogated, Cabanillas was told that if he pleaded guilty to the crimes, he'd only get probation.
Despite this, Cabanillas was later sentenced to a total of 15 years to life in prison in addition to a fixed term of 72 years and four months.
He has already served 28 of those years.
However, that all changed last week when a new investigation into the case saw DNA evidence exonerate the wrongfully convicted man from the crimes he was initially charged with.
In a statement, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said that Cabanillas was wrongfully convicted of kidnapping, robbery, and sexual assault.
"Today, we acknowledge a grave injustice that has resulted in the unjust, more-than-28-year incarceration of Mr. Cabanillas," Gascón said on Tuesday during a news conference while standing next to Cabanillas and his wife.
"Upon thorough reexamination of the evidence and a comprehensive review of the case by my office’s Conviction Integrity Unit, it has become abundantly clear that a serious error was made," he continued. "I extend my deepest apologies to Mr. Cabanillas for the miscarriage of justice and the failure of our criminal legal system."
Gascón noted it was "imperative that we reflect upon this case as a stark reminder that our criminal legal system is not infallible," before adding that "we must collectively commit to doing better, to continuously improving our procedures, and to ensuring that every person who enters our legal system is afforded a fair and just process."
At the same conference, Alissa Bjerkhoel, the Interim Director of the California Innocence Project at California Western School of Law, also stated that "false confessions are one of the leading causes of wrongful convictions in the United States."
"Police are permitted to lie to suspects, including promises of leniency if the person confesses," she continued. "That is exactly what happened here and, if it was not for the DNA evidence, Gerardo would have spent the rest of his life in prison."
One of the victims who testified that both perpetrators had ejaculated inside of her when they committed the assault underwent DNA testing which found that Cabanillas' was innocent, with none of the evidence linking to him.
The California Innocence Project stated: "Post-conviction DNA testing on the sexual assault examination kit has revealed two contributors of sperm found on [the victim], neither of which are Cabanillas.
"In addition, an expert on false confessions has determined Cabanillas’s confession has a 'high probability' of being false. It was inconsistent with the facts and was primarily the product of police feeding him information and Cabanillas merely confirming it," the statement added.
Our thoughts are with Cabanillas and his loved ones during this period and we hope that, despite the setbacks, he manages to live a fulfilling life now that he is free.
