Man who spent 38 years in jail for abduction and murder declared innocent

After wrongly spending 38 years behind bars, Maurice Hastings has been declared 'factually innocent' of murder and two accounts of attempted murder and is deciding whether to seek compensation

Alan Johnson Social News Reporter

06:45, 03 Mar 2023

[Maurice Hastings smiles at a hearing at Los Angeles Superior Court where a judge dismissed his conviction for murder after new DNA evidence exonerated him on Oct. 20, 2022]

A judge dismissed Maurice Hastings' conviction for murder after new DNA evidence exonerated him (Image: AP)

A Los Angeles man who was jailed in 1983 for the abduction and murder of a woman was declared 'factually innocent'.

In a motion filed jointly by the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office and the Los Angeles Innocence Project, Superior Court Judge William C. Ryan noted the request for a finding of Maurice Hastings' factual innocence.

Having spent 38 years behind bars, Hastings was released from custody in October last year after DNA exonerated him from the abduction, sexual assault and murder of 30-year old Roberta Wydermyer, the attempted murders of her husband Billy Ray and his friend, George Pinson.

In a brief hearing in downtown LA Judge Ryan said: "I find him factually innocent."

Martha Carrillo from the District Attorneys Conviction Integrity Unit told Hastings he deserved to hear his name being cleared in a courtroom.

[Maurice Hastings was declared factually innocent on Wednesday, March 1, 2023]

Maurice Hastings was declared factually innocent on Wednesday (March 1)(Image: AP)

"You have fought for your innocence all these years," she said. "You are, in fact, factually innocent."

Attorney Ayesha Hussain of the Los Angeles Innocence Project told Judge Ryan that the factual innocence result was "crucial" in ensuring that justice is done.

"Mr. Hastings has maintained his innocence from the very beginning," she said, adding that he was "right all along".

Speaking after the hearing, Hastings declared: "Its been wonderful today. I'm ready to move forward with my life. I'm a happy man right now now I feel vindicated."

He has now tasked attorneys with the act of determining whether he should seek compensation.

[Hastings has now tasked attorneys with the act of determining whether he should seek compensation.]

Hastings has now tasked attorneys with the act of determining whether he should seek compensation(Image: AP)

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Hastings continued: "I just want to move forward. I'm not thinking about compensation right now. I just want to enjoy my life. I don't think I have 69 more years."

District Attorney George Gascn told reporters: "Thanks to the DNA testing completed, Mr. Hastings DNA profile was excluded and someone else was determined to have been the assailant in this case.

"In this particular case, the assailant went on to continue to harm other victims before he was arrested and prosecuted."

Eliza Haney, a staff attorney for Los Angeles Innocence Project added: "Todays finding of factual innocence is incredibly significant. The Los Angeles District Attorneys Office initially sought the death penalty against Mr. Hastings twice. If a jury had returned a death sentence, we dont know that he would be here today."

Hastings was convicted at a retrial after his initial trial had ended in a hung jury.

[Hastings says he now feels 'vindicated']

Hastings says he now feels 'vindicated'(Image: J Emilio Flores/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

He potentially faced the death penalty, only for jurors to recommended that he be sentenced to life without parole.

Wydermyer never returned home following a late-night trip to a market 40 years ago.

At the time authorities said her attacker had stolen her cash and jewellery before assaulting her, shooting her in the head and placing her body in the boot of her car, which he stole.

Her husband and his friend later spotted her vehicle being driven by the attacker, who sped away and fired shots at the pair.

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Hastings was subsequently arrested in the months that followed.

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