Gordon Cordeiro, a Hawaii man wrongfully convicted of murder in 1998, was released after over 30 years in prison following new evidence, including DNA tests, that indicated he was not at the crime scene. Cordeiro maintained his innocence throughout his incarceration. On Friday, Judge Kirstin Hamman vacated his sentence in a Maui courtroom, leading to emotional reactions from those present. Despite a planned appeal by the prosecuting attorney, Cordeiro, who is staying with family, expressed relief and a desire to start over. He attended church, reflecting on forgiveness, as he begins to rebuild his life.
A man from Hawaii, who spent over three decades in prison for a murder he has always claimed he did not commit, was released on Friday after a judge cited fresh evidence in his case.
Gordon Cordeiro was found guilty in October 1998 for the murder of Timothy Blaisdell, which occurred during an alleged drug deal robbery in August 1994 on the island of Maui. For years, the 51-year-old Mr. Cordeiro has asserted his innocence.
On Friday, a Maui courtroom vacated Mr. Cordeiro’s sentence based on new findings, particularly DNA evidence that his legal team claimed demonstrated he was not present at the scene of the crime. As Judge Kirstin Hamman of the Maui Second Circuit Court announced, “the judgment and sentence is vacated and the defendant is ordered to be released from custody,” gasps echoed throughout the courtroom, as reported by the Associated Press.
In an interview on Sunday, Mr. Cordeiro expressed his relief, stating he hugged his lawyers after the judge’s ruling. “It was definitely a long-awaited relief,” he shared.
Kenneth Lawson, a director at the Hawaii Innocence Project, which advocated for Mr. Cordeiro, was emotional during an interview as he recounted sitting alongside him in the courtroom on Friday.
“There was relief, there was joy,” he remarked.
Andrew Martin, the prosecuting attorney for Maui County, did not provide a comment when requested. The A.P. noted that Mr. Martin’s office is planning to appeal and file a motion to impose bail on Mr. Cordeiro’s release, claiming he is a flight risk due to the murder charge.
Court documents reveal that on August 11, 1994, Mr. Blaisdell went to Maui’s skid row with a man named Michael Freitas and $800 in cash to purchase marijuana. His body was later discovered at the bottom of a ravine. Mr. Freitas, who passed away in 2020, altered his statements to police multiple times, ultimately accusing Mr. Cordeiro of killing Mr. Blaisdell, according to Mr. Cordeiro’s legal team. (Court documents indicated that Mr. Freitas believed Mr. Cordeiro had informed on one of his associates in a different drug case.)
Throughout the day of the crime, Mr. Cordeiro was at his parents’ house building a shelving unit, backed by witness accounts and receipts that corroborate his activities, as per the Hawaii Innocence Project.
According to the Hawaii Innocence Project, Mr. Cordeiro’s initial trial resulted in a hung jury, with just one juror voting to convict him. He was convicted in a subsequent trial, influenced partly by jailhouse informants who provided testimony linking him to the murder in exchange for leniency.
He was found guilty of murder, attempted murder, and robbery, receiving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Last week, the Hawaii Innocence Project argued for Mr. Cordeiro’s release based on new evidence establishing his innocence, including DNA testing on the inside of the jeans worn by Mr. Blaisdell at the time of his death, which revealed “an unidentified DNA profile” with no traces of Mr. Cordeiro’s DNA, according to court documents submitted by his attorneys.
The Hawaii Innocence Project also contended that Mr. Cordeiro suffered from an ineffective defense team and was a victim of prosecutorial misconduct.
The judge determined that there was insufficient evidence to confirm that the state deliberately used false testimony, thereby rejecting the claims of prosecutorial misconduct, as reported by The A.P.
Following his release, Mr. Cordeiro visited his mother’s gravesite and subsequently visited his grandparents’ graves. He is currently residing at his parents’ house on Maui, where his family has been helping him readjust by buying him clothes and providing meals. He described them as his “rock.”
“I’m starting over from scratch,” he remarked.
On Sunday morning, Mr. Cordeiro attended church with his family, where the sermon focused on the importance of forgiving those who harm you. He mentioned that he has learned to forgive those who implicated him in Mr. Blaisdell’s murder, feeling as if the priest’s message was directed at him.
“It was a perfect message,” he said. “It was a perfect sermon.”