"Woman behind bars 17 years walks free after judge says she's innocent," is by Corina Knoll of the Los Angeles Times. There are document links in the article.
A woman convicted of murder and imprisoned for 17 years walked out of a Torrance courthouse Friday after a judge called her life sentence “a failure of the criminal justice system” and ordered her release.
Susan Mellen, 59, was embraced by her three children who had waited more than eight hours after the morning hearing for the prison detainer to be lifted.
"We're going to have a new beginning," she told reporters at a news conference where she was flanked by her children and other supporters.
And:
Nevertheless, she said she did not understand how the justice system could have convicted her.
"They didn't believe in my innocence, and they didn’t listen to the truth," she said. "I don’t understand how they .. put me away. It’s crazy. It was cruel punishment."
An earlier, related Times news article is, "Witness' dubious history puts a 16-year-old murder conviction in doubt," also by Knoll.
"California woman exonerated and freed after 17 years in prison," is the AP coverage, via the San Jose Mercury News.
About eight hours earlier, a Los Angeles County judge overturned her conviction, saying that her attorney failed to properly represent her and that a woman who claimed she heard Mellen confess was a "habitual liar.".
"I believe she is innocent," Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold said. "For that reason I believe in this case the justice system failed.".
The courtroom burst into applause after his ruling..
Based solely on witness testimony, Mellen was convicted of orchestrating the beating death of Richard Daly at a Lawndale home where Mellen and others lived..
The mother of three was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
Earlier coverage from California begins at the link. Related posts are in the exoneration, ineffective assistance of counsel, informant/snitch testimony, and innocence category indexes.
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