THE CALIFORNIA INNOCENCE PROJECT

The California Innocence Project welcomes home two more innocent people!

Anthony Chairez was released after spending 20 years in prison wrongfully. Anthony was incarcerated when he was only 15 years old after being convicted of attempted murder in Los Angeles. His older brother, Enrique, was first identified by a witness, but the witness qualified his identification and said the shooter looked younger and had bigger eyes. Enrique was addicted to drugs and had lost significant weight leading up to the shooting. Police replaced Enrique’s photo with Anthony’s in a second line-up they showed to the victim. The victim identified Anthony and was never given an opportunity to identify Enrique. Enrique ultimately confessed to the crime and that confession was corroborated with other witness statements and evidence. CIP staff attorney Audrey McGinn litigated Anthony’s case for more than a decade. She is pictured here with Anthony just moments after he was released.

Rodney “Patrick” McNeal was released from prison after 25 years of wrongful incarceration. Patrick had been convicted of the murder of his wife Debra McNeal in San Bernardino, California in 1997. Patrick had a solid alibi—he was at work as a probation officer at the time and did not have time to commit the murder. Years later, CIP discovered that Patrick’s halfbrother, Jeffery “Jeff” West, had confessed to family members and others that he, not Patrick, had killed Debra. West had also committed other murders after Debra’s murder. CIP litigated Patrick’s claim, but, despite strong evidence he was innocent, the court declined to reverse McNeal’s conviction. In 2020, with the help of Patrick’s parole attorney, Laura Sheppard, Governor Newsom commuted Patrick’s conviction and granted him parole. He is pictured here enjoying his first steak dinner in 25 years!