After more than 25 years on death row, a Mexican farmworker has been exonerated and freed by order of the California Supreme Court. Vicente Benavides was accused of sexually abusing and murdering a two-year-old in 1991 in Delano, California. The state’s supreme court ruled that the trial against Benavides involved false and pervasive testimony and irregularities. The verdict raised serious questions about the prosecution, including a prosecutor known for being “tough” and with a history of multiple complaints for prosecutorial misconduct, and on the county, known for having the highest number of death sentences per capita. Radio Bilingüe’s Samuel Orozco spoke with Benavides’s defense lawyer, Cristina Bordé.
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