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A man who spent more than 38 years behind bars for a 1983 murder he didn't commit was declared innocent by a judge in Los Angeles Wednesday.

Maurice Hastings was released from prison last year after long-untested DNA evidence pointed to a different suspect. The judge in October vacated Hastings' conviction at the request of prosecutors with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office and his lawyers from the Los Angeles Innocence Project.

Prosecutors and Hastings' lawyers returned to court to ask Judge William C. Ryan to take the additional step and declare him innocent of the killing 40 years ago.

The judge's Wednesday declaration of Hastings as "factually innocent" means the evidence proves conclusively that Hastings didn't commit the crime.

"It means a lot. I'm grateful for the judge's ruling, and the apologies — everything has been wonderful today," Hastings said after the hearing, according to the Los Angeles Innocence Project. "I'm ready to move on with my life. I'm a happy man today."

District Attorney George Gascón said Hastings "survived a nightmare."

"He spent nearly four decades in prison exhausting every avenue to prove his innocence while being repeatedly denied," Gascón said in a statement. "But Mr. Hastings has remained steadfast and faithful that one day he would hear a judge proclaim his innocence."

Gascón said the ruling will clear Hastings' name and pave the way for him to seek possible relief in connection with his wrongful conviction.

When Hastings was freed in October, Gascón said, "The system failed you. The system failed the victims," according to CBS Los Angeles.

The station said that, in announcing on Tuesday that his office would joint Hastings at Wednesday's hearing, Gascon applauded Hastings for his "character" and "commitment" to his innocence, saying he'd talked with Hastings multiple times and never sensed any bit of anger or hate.

The victim in the case, Roberta Wydermyer, was sexually assaulted and killed by a single gunshot to the head, authorities said. Her body was found in the trunk of her vehicle in the city of Inglewood, near Los Angeles.

Hastings was charged with special-circumstance murder, and the district attorney's office sought the death penalty, but the jury deadlocked. A second jury convicted him and he was sentenced in 1988 to life in prison without possibility of parole.

Hastings maintained he was innocent since his arrest.

At the time of the victim's autopsy, the coroner conducted a sexual assault examination and semen was detected in an oral swab, the district attorney's office said in October.

Hastings sought DNA testing in 2000, but at that time, the DA's office denied the request. Hastings submitted a claim of innocence to the DA's Conviction Integrity Unit in 2021, and DNA testing last June found that the semen wasn't his.

The DNA profile was put into a state database and matched to a person who was convicted of an armed kidnapping and forced copulation of a female victim who was placed in a vehicle's trunk. The suspect, Kenneth Packnett, died in prison in 2020, prosecutors said.

Hastings, who was 69 years old when he walked out of prison last October, told reporters at the time that he had prayed the day of his freedom would come.

"I am not standing up here a bitter man, but I just want to enjoy my life now while I have it," Hastings said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source : https://www.cbsnews.com/news/maurice-hastings-wrongfully-imprisoned-decades-factually-innocent/



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Torrential rain has triggered flooding and landslides in coastal areas of Brazil’s southeast, killing at least 36 people and displacing hundreds of others.

In Sao Paulo state, television and social media footage from the town of Sao Sebastiao on Sunday showed entire neighbourhoods under water, debris from hillside houses swept away by mud, as well as flooded highways and cars destroyed by fallen trees.

 

The town, 200km (124 miles) north of the city of Sao Paulo and where many people from the capital spend the holiday weekend ahead of the Christian festival of Lent, was one of the hardest hit, as a record 600mm (24 inches) of rain fell in 24 hours, city officials said.

At least 35 people died in San Sebastiao, according to a statement from the Sao Paolo state government. A seven year old girl was also killed in the neighbouring town of Ubatuba, news reports said.

Sao Paulo state Governor Tarcisio de Freitas declared a state of emergency in five towns along the coast.

His government said 566 people had been displaced or made homeless.

Carnival events were cancelled in Sao Sebastiao, Ubatuba, Ilhabela and Bertioga.

“Our rescue teams are not managing to get to several location; it is a chaotic situation,” said Felipe Augusto, Sao Sebastiao’s mayor.

“We are working at nearly 50 residences that collapsed under the force of the water and there are still people buried,” he told GloboNews.

More than 100 firefighters were working on the scene, with the aid of helicopters, according to local media.

Amid the loss and destruction, authorities said a boy aged two was rescued from a sea of mud, as was a woman who was giving birth.

 

Weather forecasts show heavy rains are set to continue in Sao Paulo’s coastal area, challenging rescue workers and raising the prospect of a higher death toll.

The federal government ordered the mobilisation of several ministries to assist victims, restore infrastructure and start reconstruction work.

Operations at the port of Santos, South America’s largest, were meanwhile interrupted amid gusts of wind exceeding 55 kilometres per hour (34 miles per hour) and waves of more than one metre high on Saturday, according to a local news outlet.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on his social media account he will visit the main affected areas on Monday.

Lula said government at all levels would work to “take care of the injured, look for missing people and restore roads, energy and telecommunications”.

 

Source:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/20/floods-landslides-kill-dozens-in-brazils-sao-paulo-state

 

 

panish police have recovered two 100-year-old drawings by surrealist painter Salvador Dali that were stolen last year in a burglary in Barcelona.
The police said they had detained three brothers aged 50, 53 and 55 and seized the two drawings made by Dali in 1922 to illustrate a book "Les Gràcies de l'Empordà" on the request of its author Pere Coromines.
They also seized other art works including graphic works by fellow Spanish artist Joan Miro, luxury watches and valuable coins and banknotes.
The art works - two dark rural sceneries drawn on brown paper - were authenticated by the Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation, which holds the rights on the late painter's works, police said.
 
The three brothers are alleged by Catalan police to have specifically targeted homes in the Barcelona region with art works and collections of coins and other antiques.
Police detained two other people for receiving stolen goods. The three alleged burglars were released on bail ahead of a trial, while the two others were freed pending their trial.
 
Together with the Dalis, the five Miros — which are still undergoing authentication checks — and two works by painter Paco Sola, the police seized 55 luxury watches, silver and golden pens, jewels and several collections of coins and banknotes from different times and countries.
The objects are suspected to come from a series of burglaries carried out in recent months.
 
Source : https://www.cnn.com/style/article/dali-drawings-spanish-police/index.html

The US will back Ukraine in its fight against Russia for "as long as it takes", US President Joe Biden has said on an unannounced visit to Kyiv.

"We have every confidence you're going to continue to prevail," he said.

Mr Biden's first trip to Ukraine as president came days before the first anniversary of Russia's invasion.

He said that Russia's President Vladimir Putin had been "dead wrong" to think Russia could outlast Ukraine and its Western allies.

 

He met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the pair visited a memorial to soldiers who have died in the nine years since Russia annexed Crimea and its proxy forces captured parts of the eastern Donbas region.

Mr Biden's presence was intended to reaffirm America's "unwavering commitment to Ukraine's democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity", according to a White House statement.

He had taken a 10-hour train journey from Poland to reach Kyiv in secret, later returning to Poland. Russia was informed about the trip a few hours before President Biden's departure for "deconfliction purposes", a US official said.

After the visit, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new package of security assistance for Ukraine valued at $450m (£373m), including ammunition for howitzers and the Himars rocket system, Javelin missiles and air surveillance radars.

The US will also provide Kyiv with an extra $10m in emergency assistance to maintain Ukraine's energy infrastructure, Mr Blinken said.

A new wave of sanctions against individuals and companies "that are trying to evade or backfill Russia's war machine" will also be announced later this week.

Mr Zelensky said Ukraine's victory over Russia depended on resolve and that he saw such determination in Mr Biden.

"It is now and in Ukraine that the fate of the world order, which is based on rules, on humanity... is being decided," he said.

He also said that the two leaders had discussed the possibility of sending other weapons. Mr Zelensky has repeatedly called for F-16 fighter jets, something the US and other allies have so far stopped short of approving.

Commenting on the trip, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said failure would befall those who, as she put it, "sold their souls to the Americans".

In a scene that added drama to the most high-profile visit to Ukraine since the war began, air raid sirens wailed while President Biden and Mr Zelensky were in St Michael's Cathedral in central Kyiv. The sirens sound regularly in the city.

While other world leaders have visited Ukraine over the past year, the US president's appearance in Kyiv during a war in which American soldiers are not fighting is a show of unity at a time when Russia says Western support for Ukraine is waning.

The visit was welcomed by Ukrainians in Kyiv.

"I'm so grateful for his support - it means so much to us," Roksoliana Gera told the BBC. "I appreciate his courage, that he took on this challenge and came to show the support of the American nation."

Oleksandra Soloviova said the visit showed Russia that "the US supports us and will continue supporting us, with sanctions and military equipment".

The Ukrainian president's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said the visit had been strategic as well as historic. "Many issues are being solved and those that have stalled will be accelerated," he said.

The US is one of Ukraine's biggest allies and the state department has so far announced $24.9bn in military assistance.

In January, Mr Biden announced that the US would send 31 battle tanks and longer-range missiles are also on their way.

However, there is a growing political divide in the US over the amount of aid Kyiv should receive in future.

President Biden's visit to Kyiv came ahead of a three-day visit to Poland where he will meet the country's President, Andrzej Duda, and east European members of the Nato military alliance.

In another development, China's foreign minister has said Beijing is deeply worried by the escalation of the war in Ukraine and the danger it could spiral out of control.

"We will continue to urge peace and promote talks and provide Chinese wisdom for a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine," Qin Gang told a forum in Beijing.

"Together with the international community, we will jointly promote dialogue, negotiate and address the concerns of all parties and seek common security. In the meantime, we urge certain countries to immediately stop fuelling the fire, stop shifting the blame to China and stop hyping up Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow."

Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggested China was considering supplying weapons and ammunition to Russia for the war - a claim strongly denied by the Chinese.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64702548

 

  • Death toll from the Turkey-Syria earthquakes passes 46,000.
  • The number of people killed in Turkey has hit 40,642. The Syrian government and the UN say more than 5,800 people have died in Syria.

Source : https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/18/earthquake-death-toll-surpasses-46000-in-syria-turkey

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken took a helicopter tour Sunday of one of the provinces worst-affected by the Feb. 6 earthquake in southern Turkey and northern Syria and pledged a further $100 million in aid to help the region.

“This is going to be a long-term effort,” Blinken said at Incirlik Air Base, a joint U.S.-Turkish facility that has coordinated the distribution of disaster aid. “The search and rescue, unfortunately, is coming to an end. The recovery is on, and then there will be a massive rebuilding operation.”

President Joe Biden announced $85 million for Turkey and Syria days after the earthquake that has killed more than 44,000 people in the two countries. The U.S. has also sent a search and rescue team, medical supplies and equipment.

The additional aid includes $50 million in emergency refugee and migration funds and $50 million in humanitarian assistance, Blinken said.

The secretary of state is making his first trip to NATO ally Turkey since he took office two years ago. Blinken arrived at Incirlik Air Base, near Adana, on Sunday after attending the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

He toured Turkey’s toured Hatay province from the air with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. He was expected to meet with U.S. and Turkish service personnel, as well as Turkish military families affected by the earthquake.

“When you see the extent of the damage, the number of buildings, the number of apartments, the number of homes that have been destroyed, it’s going to take a massive effort to rebuild,” the top U.S. diplomat said after the helicopter tour.

“The most important thing right now is to get assistance to people who need it, to get them through the winter and to get them back on their feet,” Blinken said as troops nearby unloaded boxes of aid… We’ll stick with it until we get the job done.”

Incirlik, home to the U.S. Air Force’s 39th Air Base Wing, has been a crucial logistics center for aid distribution. Supplies from around the world have been flown into the base and sent by truck and helicopter to those in need, including in difficult to reach villages.

Blinken is set to fly to Ankara, Turkey’s capital, later Sunday for discussions with Turkish officials on Monday, including an anticipated meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. As well as the effects of the earthquake, Blinken is expected to discuss Sweden and Finland’s efforts to join NATO, which Turkey has delayed.

Source : https://globalnews.ca/news/9498175/turkey-earthquake-blinken/