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INNOCENT US Man Who Spent 38 Yrs in Prison Wins $25MIL Payout
INNOCENT US Man Who Spent 38 Years in Prison Awarded MASSIVE Payout After Wrongful Conviction
38 Years in Prison for Nothing $25MIL Justice for Maurice Hastings
Maurice Hastings, 72, was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole in connection to a 1983 sexual assault and murder of Roberta Wydermyer
MailOnline 25 SEP 2025
A man has been awarded a massive payout in what his solicitors have dubbed the largest wrongful conviction settlement in state history
Maurice Hastings 72, was wrongfully convicted and given a life sentence without parole for the 1983 sexual assault and murder of Roberta Wydermyer, who was killed by a single gunshot to the head.
Two officers from the Inglewood Police Department and an investigator from the Los Angeles District Attorneys office at the time were accused of setting up Hastings.
Hastings consistently maintained his innocence, resulting in a protracted legal struggle.
He languished in a California prison for 38 years, but has now been awarded $25 million. The settlement was finalised in August, with court documents released on Monday revealing the details.
No amount of money could ever restore the 38 years of my life that were stolen from me, Hastings expressed in a statement. But this settlement is a welcome end to a very long road, and I look forward to moving on with my life.
At the time of the victims post mortem examination, a sexual assault test was carried out, the district attorneys office noted. Biological samples from the assailant were retrieved.
Hastings requested DNA testing of the evidence in 2000. The DAs office rejected the request. Hastings submitted a claim of innocence to the DAs Conviction Integrity Unit in 2021.
The DNA testing revealed that the semen WASNT Hastings
In 2022, at the age of 69, Hastings conviction was overturned at the request of prosecutors and his solicitors. The DNA was matched to an individual who had been convicted of a separate armed kidnapping and rape of a female victim who was placed in a vehicles boot, similar to Wydermyers killing.
The suspect, Kenneth Packnett, was arrested within three weeks after the 1983 murder in connection with an unrelated car theft, Hastings solicitors said.
Police discovered jewellery and a coin purse that matched Wydermyers belongings at the time of murder however Packnett wasnt investigated for her murder at the time.
Paknett died in 2020, imprisoned on a separate sentence, according to prosecutors. In 2023 a California judge ruled that Hastings was factually innocent
He now lives in Southern California, where he is an active member of his church, according to his barristers.
Police departments throughout California and across the country should take notice that there is a steep price to pay for allowing such egregious misconduct on their watch, Nick Brustin, a barrister for Hastings, said.
38 Years in Prison for Nothing $25MIL Justice for Maurice Hastings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOD8hkkZeXg
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