Suburban Los Angeles
Victims of the State

16 Cases

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Year:   1922   1971   1980   1990

On April 5, 1922, three men robbed the First National Bank of Arcadia of $2,800 in cash plus $5,420 in bonds and travelers' checks. The men exited the bank and piled into a car driven by a fourth man, their getaway driver. Police soon located the robbers' car. It had been stolen and the robbers had abandoned it to get into another car.

Within 45 minutes of the robbery, police stopped a car occupied by Broulio Galindo, Jose Hernandez, Salvador Mendival, and Faustino Rivera. Although police found no loot in the car, they did find five guns and two canvas sacks. The bank employees had stated that the robbers spoke perfect English, but none of the men in the car could speak English. The men, all Mexicans, would tell police that they were orange pickers and that the guns were for rabbit shooting.

The bank employees who witnessed the robbery identified Galindo, Hernandez, and Rivera as the robbers. Mendival was thought to be the getaway driver, and was partially identified by a telephone company employee who was working near the bank at the time of the robbery. Police found that Galindo and Hernandez had been previously convicted of felonies. Rivera died in jail prior to trial. At trial the defendants had to testify through an interpreter. The prosecution could not explain how they spoke perfect English during the robbery, nor did it attempt to explain what happened to the loot. Galindo, Hernandez, and Mendival were convicted of robbing the bank. However, they were all pardoned in 1924 after the actual perpetrators were discovered.  (CTI)  [6/08]

William Dulin was convicted of the murder of former boxer Mickey Erno. The victim's bullet ridden body was found near the San Gabriel River bridge. The state's theory was that Erno was killed in a falling out over the division of loot from a Long Beach diamond robbery. The conviction was due to the testimony of a woman who was threatened by the police with prosecution if she did not say what they wanted her to. Governor Merriam pardoned Dulin in 1936.  (ISI)  [7/05]

Edward Echarria Avila was convicted of charges relating to the robbery and shooting of used car dealer Sam Bravero at his car lot in East Los Angeles. Two eyewitnesses to the crime had been shown 30 mug shots of possible assailants but failed to identify anyone. A detective then showed them a single photo of Avila that he had with him in relation to another case. The witnesses both identified Avila. However, after viewing Avila in a lineup, only one of these witnesses was still sure Avila was the assailant. When detectives questioned Avila, they doubted his guilt because of the way he answered their questions. Nevertheless, Avila was convicted due to the witness identification.

Two months later, the detectives thought another man, Delbert Wilson, might be responsible for the crime. Wilson had been arrested several days before Avila. After detectives matched a fingerprint found in Bravero's car to a print of Wilson's thumb, Wilson confessed to the crime. Wilson also told police that he had coincidentally been held in the same jail cell as Avila and knew that Avila was being charged with a crime he himself had committed. Wilson said he remained quiet as he had enough troubles of his own. In Sept. 1957 Avila was granted an unconditional pardon.  (The Innocents)  [7/09]

Elmer A. Pratt, aka Geronimo Pratt, was convicted in 1972 of murdering Caroline Olson, a white schoolteacher. At the time of his arrest, Pratt was the leader of the Los Angeles Black Panther Party and a target of the FBI, which had vowed to neutralize him. While viewing a lineup, the victim's husband, Kenneth Olson, had identified another man, Eugene Perkins, as his wife's killer. The police rectified this situation by conducting another lineup in which the husband identified Pratt. They then removed all information concerning the identification of Perkins from the police file. Several jury members said they would have voted “not guilty” if they had known about the identification of Pratt.

An investigation by Centurion Ministries found that the state's primary witness against Pratt was an informant for the FBI, the LAPD, and the L.A. District Attorney's office. Orange County Superior Court Judge Everett Dickey ruled that the informant had lied extensively about Pratt at his trial. FBI agent Wesley Swearingen reported, “My supervisor and several agents on the racial squad knew that Pratt was innocent because the FBI had wiretap logs proving that Pratt was in the San Francisco area several hours before the shooting of Caroline Olsen and that he was there the day after the murder.” Pratt was freed in June 1997. Pratt's case was written about in Last Man Standing: The Tragedy and Triumph of Geronimo Pratt.  (CM) (Black Panthers) (Murder: An Analysis of its Forms)

Juan Francisco Venegas was convicted in of the Christmas morning hammer slaying of 64-year-old William Staga. The murder occurred in Staga's apartment at 1208 Daisy Ave. in Long Beach. Venegas was arrested without probable case, and subsequently police prepared a crime report falsely implicating him in the murder. Venegas's conviction was overturned in Sept. 1974 and charges were never refiled. Venegas was later awarded $1 million because his imprisonment was due in part to false testimony caused by police misconduct.  (ISI) (Archives)  [4/08]

Gordon Robert Hall was convicted of murdering Jesse Manuel Ortiz, 27. The victim died after a gunman in a passing car fired several shots at him and his two half-brothers. A few blocks away from the incident, police found what they thought was the gunman's car. After they surrounded the area, which was the locus of a party, they found Hall hiding in some bushes. Hall, 16, said he was at the party all night and that he hid because his attendance at the party violated his probation for involvement in a graffiti painting incident. The victim's half-brothers, Victor and Daniel Lara, identified Hall as the killer.

Following Hall's conviction, the victim's brothers recanted their testimony. Instead they claimed a man named Oscar Sanchez was the killer. Hall's defense also discovered a new eyewitness who identified Sanchez and another man, Alfred Reyes, as the killers. Reyes admitted being at the party but denied any involvement in the crime. Instead he implicated Sanchez as the driver of the passing car. Other witnesses also implicated Sanchez and/or Reyes, but none implicated Hall. Additional witnesses confirmed Hall's alibi.

In Dec. 1981, an appeals court overturned Hall's conviction. Two months later, charges against Hall were dropped and he was released.  (In re Hall) (ISI) (MOJ)  [7/09]

Oscar Lee Morris was convicted in 1984 of murdering William J. Maxwell in a public bathhouse. The conviction was overturned after Morris's prime accuser recanted on his deathbed. Originally sentenced to death, Morris served 16 years of a life sentence.  (People v. Morris)  [6/05]

Thomas Lee Goldstein, an ex-Marine, was convicted of the shotgun murder of jogger John McGinest. The conviction was based on eyewitness error, false informant testimony, and police influencing eyewitnesses. Police were helped by a heroin-addicted informant with the unlikely name of Edward F. Fink who claimed Goldstein had confessed to him. Fink made the same claim about ten other cellmates. Prosecutors also hid a leniency deal that could have helped discredit Fink. The Ninth Circuit Court overturned Goldstein's conviction in 2004 and ordered Goldstein's immediate release from custody. L.A. County initially defied the order, by recharging Goldstein, but they subsequently dropped charges and released him from custody. Goldstein served 24 years of a 27 years to life sentence.  (L.A. Times)  [12/05]

In 1980, eighteen-year-old Tony Cooks was accused of murdering John Franklin Gould. Gould, 42, had been accosted by three black teenagers one evening while he and his wife walked down a street near their Paramount apartment. Gould was beaten, stabbed, and shot. Gould's wife told police that the assailant was “a light-skinned black.” Police showed her a photo-lineup in which Cooks was the only light-skinned black, and she told police, “I can't be positive, but I think that's him.” However, at trial, Gould's wife would positively identify Cooks.

Another witness, Helen Foster, who said she saw the nighttime crime 177 feet from her apartment window, identified Cooks as one of the assailants. Two days after Cooks' arrest, a 14-year-old youth was also arrested after he confessed to his involvement in the crime; the youth then accused Cooks as also being a participant in the crime. Based on these identifications, Cooks was indicted for murder.

Cooks' first trial ended up in a hung jury; his second trial ended in a mistrial; his third trial ended in a hung jury. Finally, at his fourth trial, in 1981, Cooks was convicted of Gould's murder. However, the trial judge expressed skepticism about the eyewitness identifications and overturned the conviction. The prosecutor appealed the judge's decision and an appellate court reinstated the conviction. The judge, forced to pronounce sentence, ordered Cooks to prison for sixteen years to life, but freed him on $5,000 bond pending appeal. On appeal Cooks won the right to a fifth trial.

In 1986, at Cooks' fifth trial, it was revealed that the 14 year-old eyewitness against Cooks had told his probation officer that his testimony was a “lie” he made up in order to satisfy a persistent detective who would not take “no” for an answer. The fifth trial jury voted to acquit Cooks.  (Ramsey)  [10/07]

Melvin Mikes was convicted of beating to death 76-year-old Harold Hansen. Hansen was found dead on March 10, 1980 in the basement of his Long Beach fix-it shop. The pockets of his clothing had been turned inside out. The shop, which was located on the main floor of the building, had been burglarized.

Near Hansen's body, investigators found three chrome posts – a three-foot post, a six-foot post, and a “turnstile” post – all of which constituted portions of a disassembled turnstile unit. Hansen had purchased the turnstile at a hardware store's going out-of-business sale, approximately four months prior to his death. The investigators determined that the assailant used the three-foot post to murder Hansen.

The government's case against Mikes rested exclusively upon the fact that his fingerprints were among those found on the posts that lay adjacent to the victim's body. Mikes's counsel failed to present alibi witnesses. Mikes' conviction was vacated due to insufficient evidence. His release was delayed four months waiting for the DA's unsuccessful appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Mikes served 7 years of a 25 years to life sentence.  (Archives)  [4/08]

In 1983, a mentally unbalanced woman named Judy Johnson enrolled her two-year-old son, Matthew, in the McMartin Preschool. She became obsessed with Matthew's rectal problems and began thinking they were a result of sexual abuse. Soon Judy was making accusations against Ray Buckey, 28, the only male who worked at the school and who was the grandson of Virginia McMartin, 79, the school's founder. Matthew denied abuse at first, but soon Judy was making more accusations against Ray based on what Matthew allegedly said.
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Leonard McSherry was convicted of the kidnapping and rape of a 6-year-old girl. McSherry was a previously convicted sex offender with several arrests for loitering. Police kept McSherry under tight scrutiny and were predisposed to believe he was the assailant even though he did not match descriptions of the assailant. Witnesses identified him anyway. DNA testing identified the real assailant as an inmate serving a life sentence for a 1997 assault. McSherry served 13 years of a 48 years to life sentence. He was awarded $481,200 for his wrongful incarceration.  (IP)  [6/05]

Jesus Avila was convicted of attempted murder in 1990 in the shooting of Demetrius Kidd. The shooting occurred at a baby shower gathering in Ham Park. Jesus's original lawyer, George Denny, became convinced that Jesus's brother, Ernesto, was the real shooter, after Ernesto apparently confessed to him. But Denny never told anyone because he represented Ernesto in another matter and believed that he could not implicate him – even if doing so might help clear Jesus. While Denny wrestled with this dilemma, Ernesto and the Avila family gambled. Rather than come forward and testify for his brother at the trial, Ernesto hoped that Jesus would win his freedom anyway. “We thought Jesus would be acquitted and Ernesto would not have to go to jail either,” said Christine Avila, their mother.

Denny withdrew from the case, citing an unspecified conflict of interest. However, he never shared with Jesus's new lawyer information he had on why Ernesto was the real shooter. When police arrived at the shooting, Ernesto had fled. Witnesses there identified Jesus as the person who most looked like the shooter. At trial, Jesus's new lawyer presented witnesses who placed Jesus on the opposite side of the park at the time of the shooting. Some remember him hitting the ground when shots were fired. However, the prosecution witnesses prevailed.

On appeal in 1992, a judge heard sworn testimony that Ernesto was the guilty party, both from Ernesto and several other witnesses. However, the judge declined to order a new trial for Jesus, saying later that he did not find Ernesto's admissions credible. Eventually, however, Jesus was able to appeal to the federal Ninth Circuit Court, which overturned his conviction in July 2002.  (L.A. Times)  [10/07]

Tito David Valdez, Jr. and his father, Tito David Valdez, Sr., were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation to commit murder. Valdez Jr. produced a Norwalk cable TV show called Hollywood Haze featuring a freewheeling mixture of music videos and interviews with partying teen-agers and rap musicians. Most footage focused on teen-age girls dancing at underground parties and nightclubs.

Valdez had hired a 13-year-old Pico Rivera girl who said she was 16. She said Valdez had brought her to his Downey home and raped her in his room while his father and brother watched television downstairs. After the girl brought rape charges against Valdez, he and his father allegedly conspired to kill her. They allegedly solicited someone to murder her. Evidence has surfaced that the wiretapped tape conversation played to the jury was an edited, altered version. Secondly, the jury was never told that the star witness for the prosecution, was a paid FBI informant and had a prior criminal record.  (Valdez's Story) (Archives)  [4/08]

“Mario Rocha was wrongly convicted in 1996 of a murder and attempted murder that occurred at a party in El Monte, California in 1996. [The victims were Martin Aceves (dead) and Anthony Moscato (wounded).] Rocha, 16-years-old at the time of the shooting, was sentenced to 35 years to life for the murder and 29 years to life for the attempted murder. The California Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction in 1999 in an unpublished decision. Three exculpatory witnesses were discovered after Rocha's conviction and his state habeas corpus petition was based on his trial lawyer's ineffectiveness for failing to conduct an investigation and locate the witnesses prior to trial. On December 28, 2005 the California Court of Appeals overturned Rocha's conviction and ordered a new trial on the basis that his attorney had provided ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to conduct an adequate pre-trial investigation. After the California Supreme Court upheld the appeals court's order, Rocha was released on August 24, 2006 after more than 10 years of imprisonment. On October 28, 2008 the charges were dismissed when the prosecution announced they would not seek Rocha's retrial.” – FJDB  (In re Rocha)

“Rafael Madrigal Jr. was wrongly convicted in 2002 for a July 2000 shooting. His conviction was based on the testimony of several eyewitnesses. The jury disregarded Madrigal's alibi defense that at the time of the shooting in East Los Angeles he was at work 36 miles away in Ontario. He was sentenced to 53 years to life in prison. After Madrigal's direct appeal was affirmed and his state habeas was denied, he filed a federal writ of habeas corpus. On September 3, 2009 a federal judge in Los Angeles granted Madrigal's writ, ruling that his lawyer was ineffective for failing to present additional evidence that at the time of the shooting Madrigal was at work. Madrigal was released on bond on October 6, 2009.” – FJDB  (Madrigal v. Yates)