San Jose man freed after 17 years in prison for drive-by shooting
A man convicted in a 2002 drive-by shooting that left a man paralyzed has been exonerated and freed. He has spent the last 17 years in prison.
Lionel Rubalcava, 40, was freed due to the work of the Northern California Innocence Project. The project based at Santa Clara University took his case 5 years ago and was able to disprove eyewitness accounts.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office interviewed the victim again. He told prosecutors he was not confident about the identification and only caught a glimpse of the shooter’s face.
Rubalcava’s conviction was reversed last month, but Wednesday prosecutors officially dropped the charges against him.
