Innocent until proven guilty… and then proven innocent.
Source: California Innocence Project
For 36 years, Michael Hanline has been in the California State Prison for a crime he didn’t commit.
He maintained his innocence the whole time and with the help of the California Innocence Project, he was able to revisit his ruling.
After spending more than half his life in jail, this innocent 69-year-old man was finally released.
Upon his release, the first thing he did was look up at the sky…
…then, he asked for the “burger in the commercials.”
His wife and team of supporters took him straight to a Carl’s Jr. to get a taste of one of their juicy cheeseburgers
This was his first taste of freedom in a long time.
Hanline was mistakenly found guilty for the murder of a biker named J.T. McGarry who went missing in 1978.
It wasn’t until nearly 20 years after his conviction that he began working with CPI on his case. It would be another 15 years of pulling and presenting evidence—like critical police reports that had been sealed before his first trial almost 40 years ago—before he was finally released on November 24, 2014.
Having been incarcerated for 36 years, Hanline is officially the longest serving, wrongfully convicted inmate in the state of California.