Charges have been dismissed for a Los Angeles man who spent 19 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.
“I had good days and bad days, I stayed hopeful and that’s all I could do,” John Edwards Smith, 37, said outside the downtown jail. “I’m not bitter at all, because that ain’t going to get me nowhere. I’ve got to move on.”
Smith was freed after a group called Innocence Matters gathered evidence that the man who testified against Smith lied under police pressure.
Smith’s lawyer, Deirdre O’Conner, said the sole witness was the shooting victim who had survived the incident that left one man dead. His testimony helped convict Smith.
Smith always maintained he was not in the area or involved in the shooting.
O’Conner, who heads the Torrance-based public interest firm Innocence Matters, reported in papers filed with the court that Smith’s accuser, Landu Mvuemba, said he falsely identified Smith as the shooter under police pressure.
San Quentin prisoners responded to the AP article referring to Smith’s case, which began by identifying Smith as a former gang member.
One said, “Gang member? What’s up with that? Why is ‘gang’ mentioned first?” Another said, “What do you expect? The prosecution always chooses their suspect first.”
Another proclaimed that gang members are prime targets for the authorities. Still another said that a prime suspect is always chosen first, and evidence is built around that suspect to confirm that suspect’s guilt. Another explained that prosecutors were like jaguars, and picked out the weak as prey.