SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — Joaquin Ciria, a man who has spent more than three decades behind bars for a murder he did not commit, was officially exonerated of the crime Monday in San Francisco Superior Court.
Now 60 years old after spending more than half his life in prison, Ciria was arrested in 1990 for the shooting death of Felix Bastarrica in San Francisco’s SoMa District. His exoneration comes 32 years to the day after he was arrested for the crime.
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Bastarrica was actually killed by a mutual acquaintance of the two men, but Ciria was convicted after the actual killer began rumors that Ciria was the shooter. According to the Northern California Innocence Project (NCIP), police relied on the rumors to target Ciria and coerced another man who drove the actual shooter to the crime to falsely name Ciria as the gunman.
Although the driver, George Varela, told police that Ciria was innocent, police told the Varela he could either implicate Ciria or be charged with the murder, the NCIP said.
Based primarily on Varela’s perjured testimony, Ciria was found guilty and sentenced to 31 years to life.
Among the new evidence of Ciria’s innocence presented by the NCIP was testimony by Varela’s sister and family friend who both said Varela had admitted to them that Ciria was innocent. In addition, an eyewitness imprisoned for an unrelated crime came forward in 2020 to say he saw another man, Candido Diaz, argue with Bastirraca at the scene before gunshots rang out.
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That eyewitness said Diaz got into Varela’s car and fled the scene of the murder. Thirty years later, after the eyewitness was released from prison, he finally came forward to reveal for the first time that Diaz had killed Bastarrica, begging Ciria’s family for forgiveness for letting their loved one stay in prison for decades for a crime he didn’t commit, the NCIP said.
Ciria’s former defense attorney also admitted to mistakes such as not playing the coercive portions of Varela’s recorded interview during the trial and not presenting witnesses who maintained Ciria was at home with them and his newborn son at the time of the murder.
“We are delighted for Joaquin, who fought for so long to clear his name,” said NCIP Attorney Paige Kaneb in a prepared statement. “He can now spend time with his 32-year-old son, who was a baby when his father was wrongfully taken away from him.”
San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin was scheduled to hold a press conference on Ciria’s case at 2 p.m. Monday.
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