Headline

Man Found Innocent After 28 years In Prison For R*pe, Kidnapping

Published

8 months ago

September 27, 2023

A 46-year-old man, Gerardo Cabanillas was exonerated of the r*pe, robbery, and kidnapping convictions he spent 28 years in an American prison for, after a new DNA test showed he was innocent of those crimes.

Cabanillas was 18 years old when he was jailed for robbing, kidnapping and s*xually assaulting a woman in Los Angeles, the United States in 1995.

According to CNN, Cabanillas, from California had spent nearly three decades in prison but the new DNA testing said he did not commit the crimes.

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, in a news conference on Tuesday, said, “I stand here with you with a deep sense of responsibility as a district attorney to address a tragic miscarriage of justice and to celebrate the exoneration and release of prison of an innocent man.”

Background

In January 1995, a man and woman were robbed at gunpoint by two men who also s*xually assaulted the woman, the district attorney said. Days after the crime, Cabanillas, at that time as an 18-year-old man was arrested because he generally matched the description of one of the suspects, Gascón said.

“Mr. Cabanillas always maintained that on the date of his arrest, he was coerced by the investigating detective into giving a false confession with a promise that he would be released on probation,” Gascón said.

Despite no physical evidence connecting Cabanillas to the crime, he was charged with 14 felony counts, according to Gascón.

Cabanillas’ innocence and DNA

Cabanillas during the trial maintained he was innocent throughout but was ultimately handed a sentence that amounted to life in prison.

In 2019, Cabanillas’ lawyers from the California Innocence Project, a non-profit that works to free wrongfully convicted people from prison, filed a motion to have DNA evidence related to the 1995 sexual assault victim tested, the district attorney said. None of the DNA matched Cabanillas, he said.

“After a thorough review of all the evidence, including expert analysis of the purported confession and an interview with the sexual assault victim, we lost confident in the conviction in this case,” Gascón said.

Cabanillas was conditionally released from a prison in May, according to the district attorney’s office. He was permanently freed on September 21, when a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge vacated his conviction and found him factually innocent.

Alissa Bjerkhoel, the California Innocence Project’s interim director, said the exoneration is “bittersweet.”

“The righting of a wrong under these circumstances is deeply profound,” Bjerkhoel said during the Tuesday news conference. “The colossal damage done because of this wrongful conviction cannot be measured. Gerardo has missed out on a lifetime in the free world.”

Investigators with the district attorney’s office have used the new DNA testing to identify a new suspect, who is in custody in connection with an unrelated killing, Gascón said.

Gascón said the man matched the suspect description and “had gone on to commit multiple serious felonies in the same area, including several rapes and murder.”

“To you and your family, I offer our deepest apologies for the horrible injustice that was caused,” Gascón told Cabanillas, who attended the news conference with his family but chose not to speak.

Headline

Kudos As Nigeria Gains Additional Territory ‘Five Times The Size Of Lagos’

Published

12 hours ago

May 15, 2024

Editor

President Bola Tinubu has commended the High Powered Presidential Committee, HPPC, on Nigeria’s extended continental shelf project, a team of experts who worked hard over the years to advance the project.

The president gave the commendation when he received the report of the protect yesterday in Abuja.

According to Vanguard, the project aims to extend Nigeria’s maritime boundaries in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), 1982.

The president expressed his appreciation in Abuja after listening to technical presentations by Professor Larry Awosika, a marine scientist and member of the committee, and Surveyor Aliyu Omar, Secretary of HPPC.

The experts have been involved in the project since Nigeria’s initial submission to extend its continental shelf to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) in 2009.

They informed the President that the UN has approved Nigeria’s submission, granting sovereignty over additional square kilometres of maritime territory.

A statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngelale, quoted the President as saying: ‘’When the HPPC briefed former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022 on the status of the project, the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, CLCS, was still considering Nigeria’s submission and having technical interactions with the HPPC.

‘’These interactions and consideration have now culminated in the approval for Nigeria to extend its continental shelf beyond 200M (200 nautical miles).

‘’As it stands now, the area approved for Nigeria is about 16,300 square kilometres, which is about five times the size of Lagos State,” Surveyor Omar told the president.’’

He added that the official notification of the decision was conveyed to Nigeria by the UN Nations Commission on the limits of the Continental Shelf, CLCS, in August 2023, shortly after President Tinubu assumed office.

Omar outlined the available options for Nigeria following the approval: “The first option is to take the area gained and finalize the registration with the UN Secretary-General and close everything, meaning that we are satisfied with what we got. This will take at least one year.

“The second option is to take what we have right now, acquire more data, do a support write-up, and make a revised submission as recommended by CLCS for further consideration. This will take another four years. Either way (options), Nigeria will keep what has been approved.”

In his presentation, Professor Awosika explained that the approval came after years of meticulous scientific research on geophysics, geology, geography, and diplomatic efforts, which solidified Nigeria’s legal rights over a vast expanse of seabed and subsoil beyond its traditional territorial waters.

Awosika highlighted the economic potential of the newly acquired territory, which includes hydrocarbons, gas, solid minerals, and a wide variety of sedentary species.

He, however, cautioned against total disclosure of sensitive data acquired during surveys, noting that this will jeopardize confidentiality as Nigeria is expected to monetize the information to recover project expenses.

Responding, the president thanked the experts for their diligence, emphasizing the significance of the achievement for Nigeria’s economic and strategic interests.
VANGUARD

Headline

Police Give Tips On How To Report Erring Officers

Published

12 hours ago

May 15, 2024

Editor

The Police have urged Nigerians to take the advantage of its Complaint Response Unit, at the Force Headquarters, to report misconduct of its officers and men.

The Head of the unit, CSP El-Musta Sani, made the appeal at a Summit organised in Abuja by the Public Complaints Commission (PCC) in collaboration with the Foundation for Youth Empowerment and Social Justice.

Sanni said that the unit was created in 2015 to handle complaints against police officers from members of the public.

He said, so far, from the first quarter of 2024, the unit had received 459 complaints from members of the public against officers and men, through its social media platforms.

He further explained that 265 of the cases had been resolved while 195 were still being handled by the police.

According to him, “It takes the Unit 21 days to receive and conclude investigations on all complaints”.

He said it was worrisome that members of the public did not know about the platforms to channel their complaints.

“The major problem is that the institutions are there, but Nigerians do not know their functions.

“We receive complaints through WhatsApp, Twitter handles, phone calls, and walk-in petitions.

“And the Unit is directly responsible to the Office of the Inspector General of Police through the Public Relation Officer,” he said.

Sanni assured more sensitisation to enlighten the public to take advantage of the opportunity to lodge their complaint for proper handling.

In his remarks, the Chief Commissioner of PCC, Mr Abimbola Ayo-Yusuf emphasised the need to strengthen institutions to combat administrative injustice and corruption.

He noted that, properly developed institution is key to good governance, adding that the summit aimed to improve service delivery and ensure that the right to complain and raise issues was available to everyone.

“The purpose of this Summit, which is to foster collaboration between the Public Complaints Commission and other organisations, is quite timely and key to the understanding of the mandate of the Commission.

“The PCC, known as the Nigerian version of the Ombudsman, was established to investigate complaints regarding administrative actions,” he said.

Ms. Sandra Benson, the Director Administration, Foundation for Youth Empowerment and Social Justice, said that the Foundation and PCC were working hard to ensure justice for those who had faced injustices over the years.

Banson emphasised the need for collective action to address the issues, stating that now was the time to match voices with action for good governance.

She highlighted the importance of addressing citizens’ complaints about administrative actions and called for immediate responses, sensitisation of workers on grievance channels, and cooperation for swift justice.

“The Summit marks the beginning of important engagements with stakeholders and the PCC, aiming to restore trust in the system and liberate workers from bad leadership.”

Also speaking, Maurice Okoye, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jewel Social Empowerment Initiative, said that the critical need for consequence management in addressing issues in Nigeria was necessary.

Okoye cited the absence of consequence management as a major challenge, leading to lack of accountability among government agency heads.

He also mentioned the reluctance of many to seek justice due to a lack of confidence in the system.

He cited an example where one of his friends chose not to pursue justice after a robbery due to high costs and skepticism about the outcome.

Okoye called for a restoration of public confidence in the justice system and emphasised the need for accountability and responsibility among leaders.

NAN

Headline

Google To Offer AI-generated Answers In Search Results

Published

23 hours ago

May 14, 2024

Editor

Google has announced it would introduce AI-generated answers to online queries made by users in the United States, in one of the biggest updates to its search engine in 25 years.

“I’m excited to announce that we will begin launching this fully revamped experience, ‘AI overviews,’ to everyone in the US this week,” Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said at an event in California on Tuesday, May 14.

Google’s search results will feature an AI summary at the top of the page before the more typical unfurling of links.

The AI answers generated by Google’s Gemini technology will offer succinct summaries of what it found on the internet with links to the online sources that supplied the information.

“You can ask whatever’s on your mind or whatever you need to get done – from researching to planning to brainstorming – and Google will take care of the legwork,” said Google Search team boss Liz Reid.

The change comes as Google feels growing pressure from AI-powered search engines like Perplexity, and from the rumors that OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, is building its own AI search tool.

Searches through AI chats have also appeared on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, with users able to get information from the web without Google.

The change will soon spread to other countries, Pichai added, making it accessible to more than a billion people.