Ruled Innocent 2 Years Ago, Los Angeles Man Remains In Jail

[Flagg]

NBCNews.com

Ruled innocent by judge 2 years ago, Los Angeles man remains in prison

By Jason Kandel, NBCLosAngeles.com

Supporters of a Los Angeles man who remains in California state prison despite being declared innocent by a federal judge delivered more than 90,000 petition signatures to the state Attorney General’s Office on Monday, calling for his release from custody.

Daniel Larsen was convicted in 1999 of possession of a concealed weapon and sentenced to 27 years to life but had the conviction overturned when a judge in 2010 found his constitutional rights had been violated.

At a press conference on Monday, Larsen’s fiancée, Christina Combs, joined members of the California Innocence Project and Brian Banks, a football star who was exonerated after serving a five-year sentence when his accuser admitted she lied about him raping her, to call for Larsen's release.

"I just need him to come home," said Combs, who recently launched the petition on Change.org. "I love him."

In the petition, Combs calls on state Attorney General Kamala Harris to officially exonerate Larsen and rescind the state’s objection to his release from prison.

The group presented thousands of signatures in boxes and signs calling for Larsen’s release.

Larsen was convicted in 1999 of possession of a concealed weapon after two police officers testified they saw Larsen toss a knife under a nearby car in the parking lot of a bar.

Supporters say Larsen was the victim of poor representation. His trial attorney reportedly failed to call as many as nine witnesses, including a former police chief who said he saw another man toss the knife.

As a result, Larsen was convicted and sentenced to 27 years-to-life in prison under California’s Three Strikes Law. He had two prior strikes for burglary.

Larsen was later ruled innocent by a federal judge, who reversed his conviction and declared that his constitutional rights had been violated.

Larsen has remained incarcerated since that ruling because the Attorney General claims that he did not present proof he was innocent quickly enough -- a legal technicality that could keep him in prison for life, according to the California Innocence Project.

The guy is no saint, but this is absolutely outrageous.

[Skgoa]

Larsen has remained incarcerated since that ruling because the Attorney General claims that he did not present proof he was innocent quickly enough -- a legal technicality that could keep him in prison for life, according to the California Innocence Project.

dafuq? He is innocent, how is the time at which he was proven innocent of any matter?
e/ And how do you justify to yourself that you are keeping an innocent man locked up? It's not like there still is some level of doubt, his innocence is a fact.

[K. A. Pital]

No, the time you present proof, you know. A bit like missing the metro train from the suburbs when an angry drug dealer gang is trying to kill you right on the platform. You missed it? Too bad for you, lose your life. This just shows how much of a joke the penal system can sometimes be.

[Tanasinn]

This is a pretty transparent attempt to keep a guy in prison on the basis of "yeah, but he's scum, anyway." Which is a perversion of the legal system of the highest order.

[Hamstray]

wasn't aware that gun crazy USA has such stringent knife legislation.

[Channel72]

Yeah, 27 years for a concealed knife seems excessive. But, he was probably a repeat offender. There are some states (like New Jersey) where you get life in prison for a third offense of carrying an illegal gun. (The "three-strikes" rule.)

[PhilosopherOfSorts]

wasn't aware that gun crazy USA has such stringent knife legislation.

We don't. The state of California, on the other hand, has a "three strikes" law that imposes a mandatory minimum sentance of twenty-five years to life in prison for your third felony conviction.

[Darth Ruinus]

I don't know alot about the law but, proof of innocence? I thought the burden would be on the police to show evidence that he had thrown the weapon away?

[General Zod]

I don't know alot about the law but, proof of innocence? I thought the burden would be on the police to show evidence that he had thrown the weapon away?

Getting yourself exonerated when you've already been convicted is a whole different kettle of fish from a regular criminal trial.

[Darth Ruinus]

I don't know alot about the law but, proof of innocence? I thought the burden would be on the police to show evidence that he had thrown the weapon away?

Getting yourself exonerated when you've already been convicted is a whole different kettle of fish from a regular criminal trial.

Oh. Oh ok. So basically if you get jailed or found to be guilty then the onus is on you to show that the trial missed something and that you've got some evidence to show you are innocent? That makes sense.

[Simon_Jester]

Yeah, 27 years for a concealed knife seems excessive. But, he was probably a repeat offender. There are some states (like New Jersey) where you get life in prison for a third offense of carrying an illegal gun. (The "three-strikes" rule.)

Three-strikes legislation is really messy when the third strike is questionable.

It's a little like the death penalty. It raises the stakes if the judicial system makes an error; the main reason it stays in use, I think, is the "he's scum anyway" argument.

"Well, if you didn't want to go to jail forever, you shouldn't have been in a position where someone accused you of a crime when you couldn't prove yourself innocent..."