“Man Declared Innocent After 33 Years in US Jail: A Joyful Moment”

After spending 33 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Daniel Saldana has been declared innocent and released. In 1990, Saldana was convicted of attempted murder for opening fire on a car leaving a high school football game in Baldwin Park, California. However, evidence emerged that he was not even present at the scene of the attack. Saldana was one of three men charged with the crime, and he was sentenced to 45 years to life in state prison. Investigations into his case began in February after another convicted attacker revealed during a 2017 parole hearing that Saldana was not involved in the shooting. The district attorney’s office failed to share this information with Saldana or his lawyer, resulting in an additional six years of wrongful imprisonment. The district attorney apologized to Saldana and his family and emphasized the importance of preventing such injustices from occurring in the future.