Dupree Glass and Juan Rayford, Who Served 17 Years In Prison Are Declared Innocent

A California judge on Thursday exonerated two men who were wrongfully convicted of attempted murder following a shooting in 2004 and sentenced them to nearly 17 years in prison, according to CBS News.

Dupree Glass and Juan Rayford’s verdicts came to an end following a new trial that started in October after a state appeals court panel overturned their convictions and released them in 2020. The defense team claimed that the actual shooter, Chad Brandon McZeal, a gang member serving a life sentence for murder in a separate case, made a dramatic confession during the proceedings.

Following the judge’s decision, Glass and Rayford hugged each other and their legal representatives. The men were applauded by family and admirers outside the courthouse. Holding his infant daughter close, Rayford described the experience of having their records finally cleared and their reputations repaired as “amazing.”

Defense lawyers claimed that the case was the first to be brought under a law that provides compensation for defendants whose cases are overturned and permits them to offer proof of their innocence, NBC News reports.

The new law requires the state to pay each of them $140 for each day they were imprisoned, or about $900,000.

When they were detained following a shooting during an altercation involving a group of teenagers in Lancaster, north of Los Angeles, Glass and Rayford were, respectively, 17 and 18.

According to court documents, two people were wounded by gunfire, but they weren’t seriously hurt. Both defendants received 11 consecutive life sentences after being found guilty on 11 counts of attempted murder.