Maurice Hastings Gets Record $25 Million in Wrongful Conviction Settlement. Black Man Spent 38 yrs in Prison After White Cops and Prosecutors Framed him for Rape and Murder of a White Woman

Maurice Hastings, a Southern California man who spent 38 years in prison based on a wrongful conviction, reached a $25 million settlement in the civil lawsuit he brought against the city of Inglewood two years ago.

The settlement is the largest ever in California for a wrongful conviction, Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger, the civil rights law firm that represents Hastings, announced Tuesday.

“This historic settlement is a powerful vindication for Mr. Hastings, who has shown remarkable fortitude first in fighting to prove his innocence, and then in showing that he was framed,” Nick Brustin, one of the lawyers, said in the statement. “Police departments throughout California and across the country should take notice that there is a steep price to pay for allowing such egregious misconduct on their watch.”

Hastings was tried twice for the 1983 murder of Roberta Wydermyer, the first trial ended with the jury deadlocked, he was convicted after a second trial in 1988. There was no physical evidence to link Hastings to the crime and numerous witnesses gave him an alibi, as well as him maintaining his innocence. Wydermyer had been sexually assaulted and murdered by a gunshot to the head. She was found in the trunk of her car in Inglewood, Los Angeles. Hastings was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole

Hastings had his conviction vacated in 2022. He spent 38 years behind bars after police had framed him for the rape and murder of a woman during a 1983 carjacking.

One of the Inglewood police officers fixated on Hastings and pinned the crimes on him — despite no physical or forensic evidence tying him to the crimes and rapidly mounting evidence of his innocence, Hastings’ attorneys said. This police officer coerced eyewitnesses to identify Hastings, suppressed exonerating alibi evidence, and falsified witness statements. He also admitted he buried critical evidence that would have supported Hastings’ innocence.

Hastings, 72, said in a federal complaint filed in Los Angeles that Inglewood police arrested the true perpetrator, who matched the description witnesses had provided and who had what was likely the murder weapon, as well as some of the victim’s jewelry in his possession, for a series of car thefts. Yet, they didn’t investigate this suspect in connection with the carjacking.

Instead, Hastings said, the detectives somehow made the witnesses change their mind after they hadn’t recognized his photo initially — he’s 6 feet, 5 inches tall and has a prominent gold front tooth, while the murderer was described as 6-foot-1-inch tall with notable white teeth — and hid exculpatory physical evidence from the victim’s autopsy.

Hastings today lives a quiet life in Southern California, where he is active in his church and volunteers distributing meals to people experiencing homelessness, his attorneys said.

“No amount of money could ever restore the 38 years of my life that were stolen from me,” Hastings said in the statement. “But this settlement is a welcome end to a very long road, and I look forward to moving on with my life. I thank God that I’ve made it to the other side of this decades-long ordeal, and I thank my family and legal team for their steadfast support over the years.” [MORE]