On Monday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that freed a California man who was wrongfully convicted in 1999 of being in possession of a concealed knife under California's Three Strikes Law. Daniel Larsen was convicted based largely on eyewitness identification. Two officers testified that they saw Larsen throw a knife under a car located in the parking lot of the Golden Apple Bar in Los Angeles. Because he had prior felony convictions, Larson was sentenced to serve 28 years to life in prison. Larsen spent nearly 14 years in prison before his conviction was reversed by a U. S. District Court judge in 2010 after the California Innocence Project, which began representing Larson in 2002, found witnesses who testified seeing a different man holding the knife. The Associated Press reports that prosecutors argued that Larsen missed a paperwork deadline in his bid for freedom but the Court of Appeals disagreed. Read the full article. Read the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling. Read more about Daniel Larsen's case.
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