A man released from prison after 30 years over a murder he didn't commit has revealed his first impression of the world and 'everybody' in it.
A lot changes in a week or even a year let alone three decades, but there was one thing in particular Gordon Cordeiro noticed when he came out of prison at the Maui Community Correctional Center in Hawaii on Friday (February 21).
How Cordeiro's conviction was overturned
Cordeiro was convicted in 1994 in connection to the shooting death of Timothy Blaisdell.
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Blaisdell was killed during a drug deal robbery on the island of Maui and Cordeiro was found guilty of robbery, attempted murder and murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Cordeiro denied any wrongdoing and maintained his innocence and his case was eventually taken up by the Hawaii Innocence Project.
A hearing held earlier this month saw the Hawaii Innocence Project argue Cordeiro's previous attorney was ineffective and there'd been prosecutorial misconduct too, ABC News reports.
New DNA evidence was also presented to the court, with the Hawaii Innocence Project stating new testing on physical evidence from the crime scene excluded Cordeiro as the source of DNA on Blaisdell's body and other evidence and there was actually a DNA profile of an unidentified person found instead.
A judge ultimately decided to free Cordeiro and 'vacate' his convictions and the newly freed man has since opened up about what it's been like getting out of prison after over 30 years inside.
In an interview with the Associated Press, he said one of the first things he noticed was 'everybody is looking at their phones'.
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He added: "I’m not staring at it yet. It keeps beeping and messages coming in, and it’s different."
Despite everyone looking at their phones being a bit of a bleak realization as to how the world has evolved over his three decades in prison, Cordeiro noted how 'awesome' technology is given it facilitated the new DNA evidence being discovered helping lead to his release.
He said: "Thank God for new DNA. Technology is awesome."
Co-director of the Hawaii Innocence Project, Kenneth Lawson, said when Cordeiro was released from custody after the hearing finished it was 'very, very emotional'.
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Lawson reflected: "He cried, we all cried. He believed that he was going to be exonerated ... but having gone through two trials you lose faith in the justice system. To finally hear a judge say ‘I’m vacating your convictions,’ that’s when it hit him."
As soon as he was released, it's reported Cordeiro went to visit his mother's gravesite, had a steak dinner and celebrated with family.
Topics: Crime, True crime, US News, Hawaii
Poppy Bilderbeck