James Ochoa spent 10 months in California prison for a carjacking he didn’t commit before he was exonerated in 2006 because DNA proved that another man committed the crime. New evidence revealed yesterday shows that prosecutors asked the Orange County Sheriff’s Department crime lab to falsify evidence that would help convict Ochoa.
In the wake of a November 2005 OC Weekly article detailing how a 20-year-old Buena Park man faced prison for a robbery /carjacking he didn’t commit, prosecutors asked the Orange County Sheriff’s Department crime lab to alter key exculpatory evidence.
“Yes,” Wieland replied. “Camille Hill from the DA’s office … She called me and asked me to change the conclusion that Mr. Ochoa was eliminated from [DNA found on] the left cuff of the shirt.”
According to the transcript, Hill told Wieland she “didn’t care” about the crime lab’s findings. “I want him [Ochoa] not excluded,” Wieland recalls Hill saying.
