Gerardo Cabanillas, an American, who has spent nearly three decades in prison for kidnap, robbery and rape has been declared innocent and freed, prosecutors have announced.
Gatekeepers News reports that Cabanillas was convicted in 1996 and has spent 28 years in prison.
He had earlier confessed to being one of two armed men who approached a couple, forced the man out, and drove the woman to an abandoned house where both raped her.
Daily Mail reports that the forty-six-year-old case was reexamined by the Conviction Integrity Unit of the District Attorney’s office, after which a judge reversed his conviction, found him factually innocent and ordered his permanent release.
In 2019, Innocence Project, a non-profit organisation, requested that the DNA on the rape kit be tested. The result showed that two other people committed the assault.
Also, victims of the attacks, who identified Cabanillas from photo lineups, later expressed doubts in court and said they were pressured into identifying him.
The District Attorney, George Gascon said, “Cabanillas, who was 18 years old at the time, was arrested a few days after the incident because he generally matched the description of the suspects.”
Gascon said despite there being no physical evidence connecting Cabanillas to the crime, he was charged with 14 felony counts and would have spent the rest of his life in prison if not for the DNA evidence.
He said, “He always maintained that on the date of his arrest, he was coerced by the investigating detective into giving a false confession with a promise that he would be released on probation.
“After a thorough review of all the evidence, including expert analysis of the purported confession and an interview with the sexual assault victim, we lost confidence in the conviction in this case.”
The DA said after he was exonerated, “I extend my deepest apologies to Mr. Cabanillas for the miscarriage of justice and the failure of our criminal legal system.”
