Imprisoned For Murder While Pregnant, Woman Among 2 Declared Innocent Decades Later

HOLLYWOOD, CA — Two people who spent nearly two decades in prison for a 2007 East Hollywood murder they did not commit were declared factually innocent of the crime Tuesday.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William Ryan granted the prosecution's request for a finding of factual innocence for Charlotte Pleytez, now 38, and Lombardo Palacios, 33, who hugged each other shortly after the judge's pronouncement.

The hearing came just over two months after their convictions were vacated and they were set free. The work to exonerate the pair began under former district attorney George Gascón.

Palacios, then 15, and Pleytez, then 20 and pregnant, were accused of the 2007 murder of Hector Flores on Sunset Boulevard. Convicted in 2009 and sentenced to 50 years to life in prison, Gascón said Palacios was subjected to "coercive investigations" by the Los Angeles Police Department and "was never actually there" at the time of the murder. Pleytez steadfastly maintained her innocence throughout the ordeal, Gascón said.

"It feels like the truth is finally out," Pleytez said outside the downtown Los Angeles courtroom after Tuesday's hearing. "It's awful that I spent so much time in prison. I'm glad it was made right, that I got justice."

District Attorney Nathan Hochman — who appeared in court last December when a judge ordered the immediate release of the two — said then that it was a "magical moment for justice."

Investigators picked up Pleytez and Palacios from the prisons where they were being held in Central California so they could attend the hearing and be released from custody before Christmas, Hochman said in December.

"I owe a heartfelt apology to you, Mr. Palacios, and to you, Ms. Pleytez, for what you've gone through, for the suffering you've endured," the district attorney told the two. "There's no words that can truly describe what you have gone through, but I'm here to tell you today you're here, you're amazing people, you're going to do amazing things in this world."

Palacios, a Guatemalan refugee, was 15 when he was identified by the LAPD as the shooter in the gang-related murder of Flores. Flores was shot and killed in his car in East Hollywood in front of a 99-cent store, LAist reported.

Flores’ fiancee, who was sitting in the passenger seat, was shot and wounded in the same attack and survived. She identified Palacios as the shooter and Pleytez as the driver, according to LAist.

Gascón said Palacios was subjected to "coercive investigations" by law enforcement. Palacios insisted over nearly two hours of interrogation that he was innocent before police falsely told him there was a video showing that he was the killer.

Palacios confessed only after denying the accusations over 100 times, Pleytez's attorney, Matthew Lombard said, according to LAist.

California law allowed detectives to lie in interrogations with children until January 2024, LAist reported.

LAist reported on audio recorded in the interrogation.

“I'm going to walk out of here thinking you’re just a little gangster who doesn't care about a person’s life,” a detective said to Palacios. “But one way or the other, we’re walking out of here knowing you killed somebody.”

Gascón said Palacios didn't accurately describe what happened or what type of weapon was used because he wasn't present at the time of the murder. He said the jury that heard the case never saw the videos.

Based in part on Palacios's coerced confession, police built a case against Palacios and Pleytez. The pair did not know each other. Pleytez never confessed: She maintained her innocence throughout the investigation, into the trial and through her incarceration, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The trial included no physical evidence linking either of them to the shooting: They were convicted based on witness testimony, according to Gascón.

With a lead that the killers were associated with the White Fence gang, police located three people who said they witnessed the shooting: Flores’ fiancee and two young women who had been in the parking lot getting ready to go to a nearby nightclub.

Police showed the women photos of White Fence gang members: Flores’ fiancee — who wore glasses with trifocal lenses — picked out Palacios. The other two women picked him out too, but later said in court they were not certain, the Times reported.

The witnesses also identified Pleytez from the book of photos; she was one of only two women included in it, according to the Times.

Hochman vowed that "we will not rest until the true perpetrators of that murder are brought to justice," and said that his office will "learn from the lessons the best we can on this case to make sure we don't repeat any of the mistakes" and wind up with people who are wrongly imprisoned.

City News Service contributed to this report.