Alexander Torres insisted he was innocent, and key evidence proving that someone else committed the killing led to his release from prison in 2021 -- after he had already served 20 years behind bars.
A Paramount man who spent 20 years behind bars for a wrongful murder conviction was awarded $14 million by Los Angeles County on Tuesday.The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved the millions from the budgets of the Sheriff's Department and the District Attorney's Office to settle the wrongful conviction lawsuit of Alexander Torres.
Torres was arrested in 2001 for the Paramount shooting death of a rival gang member. The 20-year-old was convicted of second-degree murder six months later and was sentenced to 40 years to life in state prison. He insisted he was innocent, and key evidence proving that someone else committed the killing led to his release from prison in 2021 -- after he had already served 20 years behind bars.The Innocence Project asked a judge for a finding of 'factual innocence,' stating that there wasn't any evidence that pointed to Torres's guilt, but rather that 'a preponderance of the evidence' proved his innocence.Torres was accused of jumping out of a car and shooting rival gang member, Martin Guitron on Dec. 31, 2000, in Paramount. He was arrested on Jan. 18, 2001, and he admitted to investigators that he had confrontations with Guitron, but said he did not leave his house the night of the shooting.Torres was identified as a suspect, primarily based on eyewitness testimony from two people, who had conflicting accounts of who the shooter was. After his murder conviction, a private investigator hired by Torres' brother in 2006 interviewed the driver of the getaway car, who named another person as the shooter. The county's 'Summary Corrective Action Plan' listed a series of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department investigative oversights and errors as justification for the settlement, including 'Homicide Investigators' failure to follow proper investigative protocols regarding evidence and witness interviews.'
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