Man serving 80 years to life sentence exonerated of Lynwood attempted murders

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said "today is a great day for justice" as he announced the exoneration of a man who was wrongfully serving an 80-year-to-life sentence for a 2013 drive-by shooting in Lynwood, which left two men wounded.

Hochman called it a relentless pursuit of truth and justice, as information began to come to light that Michael Renteria, now 38, had been wrongfully convicted due to a case of mistaken identity. New evidence came forward after his 2016 sentence, Hochman said.

Renteria had been convicted of the attempted murders of Jose and Juan Madrigal in drive-by shootings that took place in Lynwood on August 23, 2013. He was accused of driving his pickup truck, pulling out a handgun and shooting the brothers. 

According to the District Attorney's Office, Renteria was arrested after a single eyewitness identified him as the shooter.

"These two attempted murders and a weapons possession charge that went along with the attempted murders were actually not committed by Michael Renteria," Hochman said.

There were other charges Renteria faced when investigators served a search warrant at his house and found a handgun and an assault weapon. Renteria was a convicted felon at the time. He received a five-year sentence for the seizure of the guns at his home, in addition to sentencing for the attempted murders. 

"Mr. Renteria has been in prison for over 12 and a half years. Far in excess of what the sentence he would receive for just being in possession of the, being a felon in possession of the handgun and possession of assault rifle," Hochman said.

The District Attorney's Office's Justice Conviction Review Unit and the California Western Innocence and Justice Clinic (previously named the California Innocence Project) spent years investigating the case, and they jointly asked a judge to set aside Renteria's convictions for the attempted murders and an associated gun charge, proclaim him factually innocent, and order his immediate release, which the judge agreed to.

"And I mean we have nothing more than to apologize," Hochman said. "Apologize to him that we couldn't have gotten to this day sooner."

There is an ongoing investigation of the individual who was the shooter of the Madrigal brothers, officials said.