Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Rafael Madrigal Jr.

 

Charge:

Attempted Murder

Sentence:

53 years

Years Imprisoned:

9

Year Crime:

2000

Year Convicted:

2003

Year Cleared:

2011

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

California

County or Region of Crime:

Los Angeles

City of Crime:

Los Angeles

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

"Rafael Madrigal Jr was wrongly convicted of attempted murder in 2003 for a July 2000 shooting. Rafael Madrigal conviction was based on the testimony of several eyewitnesses. The jury disregarded Madrigal's alibi defense that at the time of the shooting in East Los Angeles he was at work 36 miles away in Ontario. He was sentenced to 53 years to life in prison. After Madrigal's direct appeal was affirmed and his state habeas was denied, he filed a federal writ of habeas corpus. On September 3, 2009 a federal judge in Los Angeles granted Madrigal's writ, ruling that his lawyer was ineffective for failing to present additional evidence that at the time of the shooting Madrigal was at work. Madrigal was released on bond on October 6, 2009 pending the Los Angeles DA's decision on whether to retry him. The DA declined to retry Madrigal. In July 2011 a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge dismissed the charges against Madrigal. In September 2011 Madrigal ffiled a complaint with the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board for compensation for his wrongful imprisonment. The State of California opposed Madrigal's claim. Following a hearing, in November 2013 the hearing officer recommended the Board's denial of Madrigal's claim on the basis he had not proven his actual innocence by a preponderance of the evidence. Before the Board acted, the California legislature's amending of the compensation law took effect in January 2014, that made binding on the Board certain factual findings from a habeas corpus and other rulings related to the issue of a claimant's actual innocence. The hearings officer then reviewed Madrigal's case in light of the law's changes, and determined that the habeas corpus findings were not the type binding under the law's changes, and that Madrigal failed to prove his actual innocence. In March 2014 the Board adopted the hearing officer's findings by a majority 2 to 1 vote. Madrigal filed an administrative mandate action against the Board seeking to overturn the decision. The trial court found the Board’s decision was legally and factually correct and entered judgment for the Board. Madrigal then filed an appeal with the California Court of Appeal to overturn the Board's judgment. On December 20, 2016 the appeals court reversed the judgment and remanded Madrigal's case back to the Board in ruling: "The judgment is reversed and the matter is remanded to the superior court to enter a new judgment for Madrigal that: (1) reverses the Board’s order denying his compensation claim; and (2) directs the Board to hold a new compensation hearing that gives binding effect to the district court’s habeas corpus findings in a manner consistent with this decision. Appellant shall recover his appellate costs." (Rafael Madrigal v. Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board, No. B265105 (Ct of Appeal, 2nd Appellate Dist., Div. 8, 12-20-2016)."

Conviction Caused By:

Several eyewitnesses mistakenly identified Madrigal.

Innocence Proved By:

"On September 3, 2009 a federal judge in Los Angeles granted Madrigal's writ, ruling that his lawyer was ineffective for failing to present evidence that at the time of the shooting in East Los Angeles, Madrigal was at work 36 miles away in Ontario. Madrigal was released on bond on October 6, 2009. The DA declined to retry Madrigal. In July 2011 a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge dismissed the charges against Madrigal."

Defendant Aided By:

California Innocence Project

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

25

Age When Released:

34

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Hispanic

Information Source 1:

"Madrigal v. Yates, No. CV-07-7251 (USDC CDCA 09-03-2009)"

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"Conviction of man serving life sentence for East L.A. gang shooting is overturned, By Jack Leonard (staff writer), Los Angeles Times, September 10, 2009"

Information Location 2:

"http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-overturn10-2009sep10,0,6342073.story"

Information Source 3:

"Judge overturns shooting conviction of East LA man, Associated Press story, San Jose Mercury News, September 10, 2009"

Information Location 3:

http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_13307268

Information Source 4:

"Rafael Madrigal v. Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board, No. B265105 (Ct of Appeal, 2nd Appellate Dist., Div. 8, 12-20-2016) (Remanding for new hearing based on legislative changes to the compensation law.)"

Information Location 4:

http://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2016/b265105.html

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org

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