LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 A California man who spent 33 years in prison for attempted murder has been declared innocent and freed, the Los Angeles County district attorney announced Thursday.<\/p>\n
Daniel Saldana, 55, was convicted in 1990 of opening fire on a car containing six teenagers who were leaving a high school football game in Baldwin Park, east of Los Angeles. Two students were wounded but survived.<\/p>\n
The attackers mistook the teens for gang members, authorities said.<\/p>\n
Saldana was 22 at the time of the shooting and worked full-time as a construction worker. He was one of three men charged with the attack. Convicted of six counts of attempted murder and one count of shooting at an occupied vehicle, Saldana was sentenced to 45 years to life in state prison.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Saldana appeared with District Attorney George Gasc\u00f3n at a press conference announcing his exoneration Thursday. He said he was grateful to be freed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a struggle, every day waking up knowing you\u2019re innocent and here I am locked up in a cell, crying for help,\u201d Saldana said, according to the Southern California News Group.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just so happy this day came,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gasc\u00f3n’s office began investigating after learning in February that another convicted attacker told authorities during a 2017 parole hearing that Saldana \u201cwas not involved in the shooting in any way and he was not present during the incident,\u201d the DA said.<\/p>\n A former deputy district attorney was present at the hearing \u201cbut apparently did nothing\u201d and failed to share the exonerating information with Saldana or his attorney as required, Gasc\u00f3n said.<\/p>\n That caused Saldana to spend an additional six years in prison before the DA’s office reopened the case and declared him innocent, Gasc\u00f3n said.<\/p>\n The district attorney didn\u2019t disclose other details of the case but he apologized to Saldana and his family.<\/p>\n \u201cI know that this won\u2019t bring you back the decades you endured in prison,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I hope our apology brings some small comfort to you as you begin your new life.\u201d<\/p>\n Gasc\u00f3n added: \u201cNot only is this a tragedy to force people into prison for a crime they did not commit, but every time that an injustice of this magnitude takes place, the real people responsible are still out there to commit other crimes.”<\/p>\n