Man Wrongfully Convicted In San Francisco Murder Released After 32 Years

Wrongfully Convicted Man In San Francisco Murder Exonerated After 32 Years

A 61-year-old Californian man who spent more than half his life in prison for a murder he did not commit has finally been exonerated after a judge vacated his conviction.

Joaquin Ciria has spent 32 years locked up after he was arrested in 1990, on a first-degree murder charge.

After he was convicted he was given life in prison for the murder of Felix Bastarrica, who was shot in the head following an argument in a San Francisco alley.

 

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According to reports, Ciria’s conviction was primarily a result of false witness testimony and police misconduct. The case against him has now been dismissed after a judge overturned his conviction.

The getaway driver of the real killer also came forward and spoke his truth. Thousands of people have been wrongly convicted across the country in a system defined by official indifference to innocence and error.

There are more innocent people in our jails and prisons today than ever before. The rate of exonerations continues to rise, revealing an unreliable system of criminal justice.

A lack of accountability for police and prosecutors, reliance on junk science and mistaken eyewitnesses, and the indigent defense crisis are major contributors to wrongful convictions that have undermined the credibility of our system and ruined the lives of innocent men and women.