E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSThe California Innocence Project is pushing for the release of Daniel Larsen, an exonerated man facing life in jail over a "technicality." KNBC's Michelle Valles reports from Los Angeles.
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.
For more visit NBCLosAngeles.com.
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.
California high school football star cleared of rape 10 years later
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.
More content from NBCNews.com:
- State quietly dropped violations, fine in workplace death
- Shooting death of handcuffed man in patrol car ruled a suicide
- Tuskegee airman George Hickman, 88, dies in Seattle
- Valedictorian denied diploma for using 'hell' in speech
- Congressman: 'Legitimate rape' doesn't cause pregnancy
- Captain's mission: Reunite Purple Heart medals with recipients' families
- Body found off Palos Verdes is that of missing diver Rebecca Weiss
- Video: Lottery ticket mixup nets man $1 million
Leave a Comment:
Christina Combs should be in prison for falsely accusing him. Her offense should be punishable up to the maximum sentence her victim could have received. PERIOD. This should be the case in every instance of false accusations that waste taxpayer dollars and ruin innocent lives. Crazy witch. I hope they free him and prosecute her.
Already had two strikes, CONVICTIONS for BURGLARY. A brilliant criminal career sidetracked. Alas, the lost oppurtunites.
its kind of scary when alot of thes prisons are now owned by private buisness, its in there best interest to put everybody in jail if they can, look at at all the money there making off the tax payers ,i thought califonia was broke but we can afford too keep innocent people in jail, i think the da needs to spend one day of jail for every day he is still in jail, someone needs to get him off his ass,what a loser. wonder how he would react if he was on the other side of the fence.this country going to hell.
Oxymoron, American justice. Commufornia and its three strikes law, more oppression by the far right. Violent crimes jail?yes, but non confrontational crimes? not life, the penalty must fit the crime and we don't live under Islaamic law so life for minor crimes is not right.
Law and justice are supposed to go hand in hand , but we have millions of laws and very little justice. we stopped saying the pledge of allegiance in schools and now even our government has forgotten "and justice for all".
Go to Change.org. and sign his petition. If I could afford to go to California, I would stand outside of that AG,s office with a big sign. This is one where the media SHOULD be making a circus out of it!! Or are they all still hanging around harassing the parents of the Aurora, CO shooter...
So an innocent man will be kept in prison because of a technicality and taxpayers will pay $40k to $50k a year to keep him there?
ANYTHING to keep the cops and the DA from admiting they might have made a mistake , like when a vidio shows 6 cops beating a unarmed man to death and then they claim thats not what we really saw. Seems to only work for cops and out of control DAs
These are the worst kind of stories. The type of story where something can be done by the people who are in power, but they choose not to because of their own egos. Our leaders have lost touch with humanity. D.A.'s don't care if the ones that they prosecute are guilty or not, they just want a tick in their W column. The sad part is we the people are powerless, we have surrendered. Freedom isn’t even an illusion anymore…Daniel Larson is proof of that.
Hey MSNBC and Fox and the rest!! Send your camera people to the AG's office and the prison! Make yourselves useful for once!
What blew me away was that a person could recieve a life sentence just for carrying a concealed weapon in the USA.
"...did not present proof he was innocent..." Yup, that fits this country's "Guilty until proven innocent" policy. And no, I didn't screw that up.
That's exactly the way it is in your country Larry, and no wonder- prisoners=money for corporations. ANYTHING goes in America if it will earn big bucks for some greedy fatcat.
The state of California has been illegally holding this man for 2 years. Everyone who cares about freedom and justice should be outraged. This case also highlights the unconstitutional nature of the 3 strikes law, which can lead to excessive sentences. Even if this man were guilty, 25 years for possession of a knife is ridiculous.
Attention all uneducated Americas: Thank right wing Conservatives for the loss of your rights and freedoms.
The Constitution says you have a right to Due Process, be judged by a jury of your piers and a right to confront your accuser.
The Constitution does not protect you if you are innocent, even if you prove it, there is NO LAW that says you have to be let out of prison if you prove your innocence (whenever Liberals try to pass any laws to help incarcerated American's Conservatives accuse them of being soft on crime) Hundreds of America's proved their innocence years ago and are still in prison.
Note: Your right to be judged by a jury of your piers does not exist and has never existed:
Women have been convicted by all male juries / Blacks convicted by all white juries, teens convicted by all middle age and older people, etc., etc., (and the war on drugs has changed the laws and now allow juries to be secret so you never see or know who they are) Again, thank Conservatives.
Note: Your right to confront your accuser(s) does not exist any longer: This longstanding right that American's used to have is now also gone thanks to the war on drugs (Started and continued to this day by Conservatives) your accuser now can be a confidential informant that you never are allowed to confront or prove is lying. This person is usually in the paid service of the Government and being paid to testify against you.
Your right to Due Process is still in place - except in cases where the Government decides you are somehow a terrorist or thinks you are or suspects you are etc.,Then you have no rights to anything: a Judge, jury, lawyer or even charges, you can be tortured to death all in violation of the Constitution and all legally under the law.
What the USA really needs right now is a right wing Conservative Mormon as President to really take away any rights that free American's might have left.
Special place in hell is reserved for prosecutors, who can never admit when they made a mistake.
Reminds me of the Simpsons cartoon where Bart is being tried for the murder of Principal Skinner. Skinner appears in court explaining his disappearance and that he wasn't dead, exonerating Bart. Everyone cheers...and the prosecution moves that Skinner's testimony be stricken from the record and for the court to continue with Bart's murder trial.
Proof of innocence should have no time limit.
27 years to life for having a knife is insane, no matter what priors he had.
OOO,,USA,just F me. You have every tax payer and the trying to make it class. I just love these small towns. NOT! Ala. ,Hueytown,,B,ham. We are a joke. Just look.Alabama,,,,O yea,,that JCS stuff,,40% paymant when they let you go. What a bunch of,,,,you know
Knock,Knock,,,who's there?? I know where the true crime is,,OUCH,,,OK,,no,,I,I,I,,ouch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Holy crap!! I realized that our justice system needs a major overhaul, but keeping some one in prison for the rest of their life because they did not prove their innocence fast enough. What kind of $hit is this. Do we now enact gulag in the U.S. Since when does a DA overpower a federal judges rule?
Who is the @!$%# that convicted this man to a ugly sentence . What is the true penalty for carrying a hand gun illegally. The state should pay a harsh fine to the person that has wrongfully been put in prison for a sentencing that is not fit for any and all states. For refusing to release a innocent man rule by a judge ,And this man is not released,A penalty of $50,000 a day for everyday this man stays in jail and is not released, With penalty and interest. Those that are responsible for this obscene punishment and release should be expelled from there position.
One would think the judge would have sent the US Marshals to arrest the AG's no good arse by now!
Declared innocent on a technicality.........
Good thing they threw away the key.
Would there have been this much outrage if the photo had been anything other then the one pictured?
California's 3 strikes law sounds good to some in theory but in reality it is just another knee-jerk reaction law and example of political pandering.
So, Lyndsey Lohan is guilty, but gets released after a couple hours because of overcrowding, but this guy was proven innocent 2 years ago but is still in jail???? Maybe Lyndsey could have his cell!!!
Yeah, they should just shoot him because of the other things that he already paid his dues for. In fact they should probably sterilize him to make sure his genes don’t infect our perfect society. And then they should lock his parents up for giving birth to him. Then they best arrest all the people he hangs out with because, after all, they are probably guilty of something...It would probably just be best to remove the rights of all American citizens in general, things would just be so much easier…
This 3 time loser is just looking to hit the Lottery with a Huge Lawuit.
WTF?! "He didn't show proof of innocence soon enough" The DA must be kidding!
I thought our country was based on rule of law, not what the DA feels like on a given day. What is the federal judge doing about this? He should have the DA arrested for contempt of court.