A Los Angeles woman who was jailed for 17 years for allegedly killing a homeless man was exonerated after a judge said she was innocent and the vicitim of false testimony.
Susan Mellen, who is a mother of three, was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1997 for murdering Richard Daly, a homeless man, after witness June Patti, who had a long history of giving false tips to law enforcement, gave a false testimony.
Patti's testimony covered up the doings of three gang members who are now being charged for the crime over a decade later, reports The Associated Press.
One of the gang members reportedly took a polygraph test admitting that he was at the scene of the crime and Mellen was not there.
"I believe that not only is Ms. Mellen not guilty, based on what I have read I believe she is innocent," Judge Mark Arnold said in court. "For that reason I believe in this case the justice system failed."
Mellen's case was reinvestigated by Deidre O'Connor, head of a project known as Innocence Matters which seeks to free people who are wrongly convicted.
The police detective who arrested Mellen is also linked to another case in 1994 in which two innocent men were arrested, reports AP.
Although Mellen lost 17 years of her life, she is excited to reconnect with her children. O'Connor tells AP they remained a "strong family unit."
"The 'kids' are overjoyed by the news of their mother's anticipated exoneration and are anxious to make up for lost time," O'Connor tells AP.
