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Carlos DeLuna Executed Wrongfully

Carlos DeLuna executed wrongfully in Texas back in 1989 for having the same first name and image of the killer and was near the crime scene.

Talking ’bout being at the wrong place and at the wrong time. Carlos DeLuna paid the ultimate price for the crime he did not commit, and this was only discovered on Tuesday, more than 2 decades from the date of his execution.

Law professor James Liebman and five of his students at Columbia School of Law spent almost five years probing over details of the case that he says is “emblematic” of justice failure.

“The 27-year-old DeLuna was put to death after a very incomplete investigation. No question that the investigation is a failure,” Liebman said.

The report, entitled “Los Tocayos Carlos: Anatomy of a Wrongful Execution,” points out several missteps in the case. Liebman said that the eye witness accounts of the murder contradicted each other. The photographs showed that the killer would most likely have blood on their pants and shoes but DeLuna’s clothes were clean. Police also failed to track down Carlos Hernandez, a man who bore a striking resemblance to DeLuna and who had the reputation of using a knife.

The report traces the facts surrounding the February 1983 murder of Wanda Lopez, a single mother who was stabbed in the gas station of Corpus Christi.

DeLuna was identified by only one eyewitness who saw a Hispanic male running from the gas station. But DeLuna had , unlike the killer, just shaved and was wearing a white dress shirt . According to an eyewitness, the real killer had a moustache and was wearing a grey flannel shirt.

“I didn’t do it, but I know who did,” DeLuna had said, saying that he saw Carlos Hernandez entering the service station.

Hernandez, known for using a blade in his attacks, was later jailed for murdering a woman with the same knife.

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