William Lopez, a 55 year old who was wrongly convicted, is died. His sad death last Saturday comes a year after he was released from prison. After serving 23 years in prison, Lopez finally tasted freedom, albeit short-lived.
Just one year after being declared a free man due to lack of evidence, William Lopez from New York succumbed to a massive asthma attack last weekend. Lopez's conviction dates back to the year 1989 after he was charged with the murder of a local drug dealer. Judge Nicholas Garaufis, a federal judge, had ruled that Lopez's crime was "rotten from the first day."
In the course of Lopez's case, investigating officers failed to find any murder weapon on the crime scene. In fact, there wasn't any concrete evidence linking Lopez to the crime. His only connection to the crime was when two witnesses testified that they saw him at the scene of the crime. However, one of them later withdrew his evidence.
William Lopez was set free on January 2013. All through his trial and consequent conviction, he had insisted that he was innocent. After his release, he stated that he looked forward to restore his life.
In his Judgment, Garaufis wrote that the prosecution's evidence was weak and could not disclose any crime.
The wrongfully convicted man left prison in 2013 and had big plans for his future life. Jeffrey Deskovic from the Foundation for Justice helped Lopez secure his release. According to the foundation, Lopez life was robbed from him. After his release Lopez has told the foundation that he wanted to travel internationally. He also wanted to study law and to help his wife set up a business.
According to Lopez's family members, the stress and emotional toll of spending two decades behind bars contributed greatly to Lopez's death. His brother, Eugene, stated that Lopez was greatly disturbed by the fact that he was wrongly convicted. He was also bothered by the fact that many other people may be suffering in prisons before justice finds its way to them.
