Man spent 18 years in prison for a murder he did not commit, California official says
Stephen Patterson was on the phone when he heard gunshots fired outside his California home.
He hung up the phone and stepped out to his South Los Angeles porch on April 15, 2005, The Innocence Center said in a news release.
Two months later, a woman who witnessed the shooting from afar identified Patterson as the shooter in a photo lineup, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a March 13 news release.
More than two years after the shooting, Patterson was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Yair Oliva, who was shot outside his South Los Angeles apartment complex, prosecutors said. Patterson was given a 50-year to life prison sentence, prosecutors said.
Now, after spending 18 years in prison, he has been declared innocent, according to prosecutors.
“This was a long time coming,” Patterson said of his exoneration in a news conference.
Patterson “has always maintained his innocence,” Michael Semanchik, executive director of The Innocence Center, said in the release.
“His wrongful conviction was the product of a single bad eyewitness identification and shoddy police work,” Semanchik said.
In a phone interview with McClatchy News, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson said they could not comment on Patterson’s exoneration due to ongoing litigation and investigation.
Day of the shooting
After seeing commotion outside a South Los Angeles apartment complex, the woman who identified Patterson as the shooter ran inside her home, the nonprofit said.
While she “peeked through the shut window blinds,” the center said the woman saw two men outside the complex, one armed with a handgun.
She heard “about five shots” fired and saw the men run, the center said. The woman witnessed the shooting from “nearly 200 feet” away, according to prosecutors.
“What started as two gangs throwing gang signs at each other ended with one man shooting and killing Yair Oliva,” the nonprofit said.
No physical evidence
Other witnesses said they saw Patterson on his porch after the shooting, the center said.
“Despite his alibi, a witness wrongly claimed Patterson was the shooter,” the nonprofit said.
Investigators did not find any physical evidence linking Patterson to the crime, according to prosecutors.
Nonetheless, a jury found Patterson guilty in 2007.
Journey to ‘factual innocence’
After taking up his case, The Innocence Center said it began its own investigation into the shooting, interviewing “numerous witnesses.”
Ultimately, the investigation focused on two other suspects, the nonprofit said.
Through investigation, the center said it found Facebook posts “where one suspect was taking credit for shooting” a gang member.
The center said it presented the case to the district attorney’s office, which in turn began its own investigation.
After its investigation, the district attorney’s office said it and the center requested that the “court vacate the conviction, order Patterson to be released, and issue a finding of factual innocence.”
This court ultimately agreed and “granted the request,” according to prosecutors.
“In this era of progress, it’s crucial to acknowledge the imperfections of our past and actively work to correct those wrongs,” District Attorney George Gascón said in the release.
Patterson ended his remarks at the news conference by referencing a saying from his grandfather.
“He used to tell me that a man could kill you, but he can’t eat you,” Patterson said. “I never knew what that meant, ’till I realized through all these years, another human being can never take your existence and who you are as a person.”
This story was originally published March 15, 2024 at 1:59 PM with the headline "Man spent 18 years in prison for a murder he did not commit, California official says."
