Wrongfully Convicted Former Marine Freed After 24 Years
This is Thomas Lee Goldstein then:
This is him now:
Mr. Goldstein was freed from prison today after serving 24 years for a murder he did not commit. The cause of his wrongful conviction: an unreliable jailhouse snitch and an eyewitness, both of whom subsequently recanted.
In recent years, five federal judges all agreed that Goldstein's constitutional rights had been violated by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office....
Goldstein, who has always maintained his innocence — and reiterated it today — looked numb as his 24 years in custody came to an end after a two-minute hearing. His defense lawyers, Dale Rubin and Charles Lindner, briefly embraced him as Goldstein, dressed in an orange jail jump suit, left the courtroom.....Reached by phone in Kansas, Goldstein's 78-year-old mother Geri was jubilant.
There's more to the story. Notwithstanding the findings of five federal judges, the LA District Attorney's office refused to free Goldstein and recharged him with the murder after the conviction was set aside:
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