 For decades Hastings had asked to have his DNA tested but was denied. With the help of the Los Angeles Innocence Project he got the test, which overturned his conviction. Announcing Hastins' release, LA County District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement: 'What has happened to Mr. Hastings is a terrible injustice. 'The justice system is not perfect, and when we learn of new evidence which causes us to lose confidence in a conviction, it is our obligation to act swiftly.' The body of victim Roberta Wydermyer was found in the trunk of her car with a single gunshot wound to the head. At first Hastings faced the death penalty ( CBS News) The coroner conducted an oral swab which detected semen. When Hastings was charged the LA County District Attorney's Office sought the death penalty. After the first jury deadlocked, the second jury convicted him, and he was instead sentenced in 1988 to life in state prison without the possibility of parole. Paula Mitchell, who heads the Los Angeles Innocence){kind=link}
Maurice Hastings spent almost four decades behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit. He always professed his innocence. At a news conference after his release, Hastings said: ‘I’m not standing up here a bitter man’
A man who spent 38 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit has been released after DNA evidence proved he was innocent.
Maurice Hastings, now 69, was locked upfor the 1983 murder of Roberta Wydermyer in California and two attempted murders.
But after a DNA test was finally allowed by the DA’s office, a different man who died in prison in 2020 was instead implicated.
At a news conference after his release, Hastings said: “I’m not standing up here a bitter man.