DA’s office seeking exoneration of pair convicted in 2007 homicide

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Attorneys Megan Baca, Ellen Eggers and Matthew Lombard join L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón as he announces on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 in Los Angeles that Charlotte Pleytez and Lombardo Palacios, who both have been in prison for over 17 years for murder, are being exonerated. They will be Gascón’s 15th and 16th exonerations. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

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Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón hs announced that his office is seeking the exoneration of two people who have served more than 17 years behind bars for a 2007 murder in East Hollywood that he says they did not commit.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William Ryan did not immediately rule on the prosecution’s request on Tuesday, Oct. 23, instead ordering attorneys to return to the downtown Los Angeles courtroom Nov. 1 after the prosecutor who handled the trial of Charlotte Pleytez and Lombardo Palacios said he wants to provide more information to the judge.

Tom Trainor, the head of the District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit, said during the brief hearing that he feels “very confident” in the most recent analysis by the District Attorney’s Office of the case.

But he noted that the trial prosecutor — Deputy District Attorney Dayan Mathai — had “raised some concerns that he may have” and that he “should be given the opportunity to be heard.”

Pleytez’s attorney, Matthew Lombard, objected to what he called Mathai’s “last-minute approach,” and said there was “more than enough” to grant the petition to vacate the convictions of Pleytez, now 37, and Palacios, now 32.

“He says he has relevant information,” the judge responded. “I want to make sure that these two petitioners … get a proper hearing and that I’ll have the relevant facts.”

At a news conference shortly after the delay, Gascón said Pleytez and Palacios had been victims of a “miscarriage of justice.”

“Today is a deeply reflective one for me. We are gathered here to announce that we’re seeking to exonerate Charlotte Pleytez and Lombardo Palacios — two individuals who have spent over 17 years incarcerated for a murder that they did not commit,” Gascón said.

The district attorney cited what he called “coercive investigations” by law enforcement of Palacios, who was then 15 years old and insisted for nearly two hours that he was innocent before being lied to and being falsely told there was a video showing that he was the killer of a man the Los Angeles Times identified as Hector Flores.

Gascón said Palacios didn’t accurately describe what happened or what type of weapon was used because “he was never actually there,” but said the jury that heard the case never saw the videos.

The district attorney noted that Pleytez steadfastly maintained her innocence while being interrogated by police.

Gascón said his office is doing “everything we can to bring those who actually committed this crime to justice.”