MISCARRIAGES OF JUSTICE
IN POTENTIALLY CAPITAL CASES (1987)
by Hugo Adam Bedau and Michael L. Radelet

Excerpt from Appendix A: Catalogue of Defendants

HALL, GORDON ROBERT CASTILLO (Hispanic). 1978. California. Hall was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was sixteen at the time of the crime. At the urging of a new defense attorney, the two original police detectives reinvestigated the case and began to suspect that the wrong person had been convicted. The conviction was based on the eyewitness identification of two men who, after the trial, confessed that their identification was erroneous. In 1981, the state supreme court vacated the conviction and granted a new trial, citing the newly discovered evidence, erroneous eyewitness identification, and inadequate representation of counsel as the grounds for its decision.1 Several witnesses also came forward and confirmed Hall’s alibi. In 1982, at the recommendation of the prosecutor, all charges against Hall were dropped.2

Footnotes

1. In re Hall, 30 Cal. 3d 408, 637 P.2d 690, 179 Cal. Rptr. 223 (1981).
 
2. L.A. Times, Feb. 19, 1982, § II, at 2, col. 1.