Tomorrow, Judge Dohi of the Los Angeles Superior Court will rule whether or not to grant a new trial to Edward Contreras, who was convicted of the murder of Freddie Walker in 1997.  Contreras, with the help of Justin Brooks, Director of the California Innocence Project, has tried to show that his original trial was undermined because the primary witness, Lisa Garringer, did not tell the truth.

In 1997, Garringer testified that Contreras and another suspect, Scott Taylor, had killed, dismembered, and disposed of Walker’s body.  Garringer recanted her original testimony during the appeal, saying that she was frightened and pressured into saying that Contreras had helped Taylor.  Now, she and Taylor have both testified that Contreras had nothing to do with the killing of Walker.

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“Edward Contreras is innocent of the murder charge and has been fighting to clear his name for the last decade,” said Brooks.

Judge Dohi, who said that “something unusual is going on here” at the conclusion of the closing arguments, will issue his ruling at 10 a.m. on January 10 in Department 113 at the Van Nuys Courthouse West.

To read more about the case, click here.