Two Men Exonerated After Wrongfully Convicted In Culver City and Whittier Murders

Two men who spent more than 20 years in prison for murders they did not commit in L.A. County have been exonerated, making it the fourth exoneration this year.

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón on Wednesday announced the exoneration of Giovanni Hernandez, who was only 14 when he was falsely arrested for a Culver City drive-by shooting that killed 16-year-old Gary Ortiz in 2006.

Hernandez maintained his innocence and said he was home at the time of the shooting. His first trial ended in a hung jury in 2010. However, a jury convicted Hernandez of all charges in a second trial in 2012 and sentenced him 50 years to life.

The road to vindication would be drawn out.

The district attorney's Conviction Integrity Unit denied Hernandez's first conviction review claim in 2015. Attorney Marisa Harris of the Juvenile Innocence and Fair Sentencing Clinic at Loyola Law School submitted again in 2021.

A Conviction Integrity Unit investigation analyzed new witnesses and cell phone records that confirmed Hernandez's alibi that he was at home and nowhere near the scene of the 2006 shooting.

"I was 14-years-old when I was arrested and the process and the system that put me in there definitely needs to change," Hernandez said. "I know we're heading in the right direction with this integrity unit."

Miguel Solorio was 19 when he was arrested for a 1998 drive-by shooting that killed an 82-year-old woman in Whittier. He also maintained his innocence, but was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole after witnesses misidentified him for his brother in a photo lineup.

“While it felt like it took no time at all to put me there, it took 25 years for me to get out," Solorio said. “Twenty-five years for justice to finally be served.”

After Solorio was rejected by the Innocence Project in 2014, he said he fell into a deep depression. He stopped eating and talking. He dropped from 196 to 119 pounds and was put on a feeding tube. But with support from his family he was able to persevere. He began to believe he would find his voice again.

Then in 2021, Solorio's attorney, Ellen Eggers, and the Northern California Innocence Project requested a review of the case. New witnesses came through corroborating Solorio's alibi that he was at home with his girlfriend at the time of the shooting. A judge set Solorio free in November. He celebrated Thanksgiving by eating tamales with 15 new members of his family.

"I gave each family member a huge hug," he said. "It was truly magical. Being with my family has been one of the highs of being free, but it has its ups and downs."

He's had to learn how to swipe a credit card and use an iPhone. He was overwhelmed by his many choices while shopping for shoes.

Gascón apologized to both men and called the wrongful convictions devastating. He credited the Conviction Integrity Unit for helping free two innocent men.

"Our job is to seek justice, wherever that might go, and if we made a mistake, we need to fix it," he said.