A man who spend 36 years in prison may be freed after a court hearing next week determines if he was wrongly convicted of first-degree murder, Yahoo News reported.
Micahel Ray Hanline was convicted of the 1978 shooting death of J.T. McGarry and was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1980. But the now 68-year-old's DNA was not found at the crime scene, new tests have revealed.
"The DNA testing performed this year was not available at the time of the trial," said Alex Simpson, associate director of the California Innocence Project. "It probably would not have been available as recently as five years ago, but in recent years the technology has gotten so sophisticated."
The jury's verdict was changes on Nov. 13 after the DNA evidence came back and police records that had at one point been covered covered up were recovered, Simpson said. He has been working on the case for the last 10 years.
"[These documents] "would have been helpful to the defense and should have been disclosed to defense counsel at the time of trail," the district attorney's office said in a statement.
Hanline said he was innocent ever since McGarry's body was found, scattered with bullet hole wounds. He contacted the Innocence Project to look into his case more than 20 years after he was convicted.
Now the reality of going home is a possibility.
"This has been a long time coming," said Simpson. "For Mr. Hanline, I don't think it's sunk in yet. He's still in shock."
Those in California who are let out of prison after being wrongly convicted are eligible for a $100/day compensation for the length of time they spent behind bars.
