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The Stress of Convictions Can Lead to Mistakes

By Steven Rodriguez

A Buena Park man was recently awarded over $30,000 for being convicted of a serious crime he didn’t commit.  James Ochoa was convicted of a felony, car-jacking, by very controversial methods, and spent 10-months in jail.  It was only on appeal that he was able to deal with the false conviction and become reunited with his wife and child. The challenge of being falsely convicted is that even after exoneration, the stigma of being thought a criminal or spending time in jail is hard to erase.  In this particular case, the police ignored DNA evidence and used a scent lifting technique to track down the perpetrator; the blood hound they used led them to Ochoa’s apartment.  The judge in the case threatened Ochoa with a life sentence if convicted, so Ochoa pleaded guilty even though he knew he was innocent...continue to full post

Full post as published by LA Criminal Defense Blog on April 24, 2008 (boomark / email).