SALT LAKE CITY – Salt Lake County’s new Conviction Integrity Unit has just cleared two cases from 2008 and 2010.
Marlo Navarro was convicted of drug offenses in 2010 after allegedly selling drugs to an undercover officer.
Two years earlier, Jose Barrera Landa was convicted of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl.
Both men were tried as adults because their ages were mistakenly entered into the system.
They were teenagers at the time, which means they were denied due process.
When asked if he thinks there are more false convictions out there, “I suspect there will be more. Some are sometimes accidental mistakes that happen during the process, but that doesn’t prevent us from correcting them. “
– Morgan Wolfe (@MorganWolfeKSL) August 24, 2021
There’s a lot here, but just to make it clear – the Barrera sacrifice Landas Case was recently contacted by prosecutors saying she did not want to bring charges, adding that she supported it vacation his charges.
Both cases did not go to court and their immigration status was affected by these charges.
Prosecutors said they did not know how or why their age was entered incorrectly.
This type of review of cases can be done since the passage of a law in 2020 that allows it. HB 324 gives prosecutors the power to review and overturn unlawful convictions after they have been thoroughly reviewed in a trial.
District Attorney Sim Gill believes more false convictions will come to light – and adds that it is her job to correct them.
“For me, this is about system integrity,” said Gill. “It’s about ensuring when we talk about fairness in our system when we talk about the rule of law in our system.”
Applications for wrongful convictions in Salt Lake County can be submitted to the Conviction Integrity Unit on their website.
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