Who is chris ochoa

In high school, Ochoa enjoyed his business law class and his participation in a mock trial, in which, ironically, he acted as the prosecuting attorney. Still, back then, "Coming from the background I come from," he says, "I guess I never thought I had what it takes to go to law school.

After finishing high school in El Paso, Ochoa moved to Austin to find work and save money for college. He held various jobs, eventually landing at a Pizza Hut, and then his life began to unravel.

Nancy DePriest, a manager at another area Pizza Hut, was raped and murdered late one night at the restaurant. A couple of weeks later, after Richard Danziger, Ochoa's year-old roommate and coworker, suggested they check out the crime scene, the two young men went to the restaurant to ask a few questions.

Call it youthful curiosity. But Detective Hector Polanco viewed it as suspicious behavior; he brought them into police headquarters for questioning. What ensued was a living nightmare that even now, 16 years later, Ochoa clearly dislikes discussing. Faced with Polanco's day-long interrogation, Ochoa was barred from making any outside contact and saw no lawyer.

Polanco punctuated his questioning with loud, angry outbursts and threats. He hammered repeatedly on the death penalty, pointing to the very spot on Ochoa's arm where, after he'd been strapped down on a gurney, the fatal injection would go. After terrorizing Ochoa for hours on Friday, the police put him up in a hotel for the weekend, supposedly "for his safety. By Monday, police had Ochoa, who still hadn't seen a lawyer, precisely where they wanted him.

Polanco placed a confession in front of him - in fact, the very same statement Polanco had tried to get two other suspects to sign earlier, but the pair had solid alibis. Even if you are versed in the law, once the machine turns on you, you're not going to beat it. The machine to convict him then rolled into motion. Ochoa's court-appointed attorney did nothing to build a defense. No one did even basic investigating that would have cast doubts on the confession - doubts quickly unearthed by law students and lawyers from the Wisconsin Innocence Project.

For instance, Ochoa's confession stated he entered the Pizza Hut through a locked door by using a key. But the door in question could be opened only from the inside. Ochoa says the story of his coerced confession stirs a common response from people who hear it: What if this happened to my son or daughter? Well, what if the government [wrongly] takes away somebody's son or daughter? That shouldn't be. We criticize China and other countries for that.

And we're doing the same thing. With no defense, Ochoa was found guilty and sentenced to life, as was Danziger. You don't even want to see a calendar, especially if you have a life sentence.

Did you plead guilty to a crime you didn't commit? We'd like to hear from you. The Innocence Network is a group of independent organizations that exonerate and support the innocent, and redress the causes of wrongful conviction. Invite an exoneree to speak at your next event. Learn More. Instead of risking a new trial, Chabot accepted a guilty plea and was sentenced to time served. Raymond Tempest was convicted of second-degree murder in Although the state had no credible evidence against Tempest, prosecutors planned to retry him for the crime.

Rather than face a new trial, Tempest accepted an Alford plea in exchange for his freedom. Leroy Harris was convicted of robbery and sexual assault in based on serious prosecutorial misconduct and unreliable eyewitness identification. In , despite new evidence—including exculpatory DNA test results—that strongly suggests Harris didn't commit the crime, prosecutors refused to vacate his conviction and instead offered him a plea deal. While the sexual assault charge against Harris was dismissed, he agreed to enter Alford pleas to the remaining charges to regain his freedom.

In , Angela Garcia was convicted of a house fire that killed her two daughters. The prosecution had some of the evidence that excluded Ochoa and possibly Danziger as well, and inculpated Marino. This evidence was purportedly contaminated in testing. Forensic Science Associates, a private forensic laboratory in California, had retained a sample from testing performed at the time of the trial in Using newer testing methods, FSA was able to exclude both Ochoa and Danziger as sources of the spermatozoa.

Chris Ochoa and Richard Danziger were exonerated in Ochoa was greeted by the Wisconsin Innocence Project staff and students who helped him prove his innocence. Ochoa now states that his confession and implication of Danziger were the results of police pressure and fear of the death penalty, citing periods of time when they harassed him and threatened him with the consequences of not confessing.

Help us advocate for the innocent by sharing cases from the Innocence Project. Press Release. Special Features. Their curiosity peeked because both worked at another Pizza Hut restaurant.

Detective Hector Polanco saw it differently. Polanco was suspicious of their behavior and wondered why they were nosing around the crime scene and decided to bring the two to the station for questioning.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with Detective Polanco taking them in. In fact, up to that point, it was good police work. Unfortunately the actions of Polanco shortly thereafter were far from honorable and led to the wrongful conviction of two innocent men. Christopher Ochoa was subjected to an all-day interrogation by Polanco that included intimidating threats and harsh language.

Polanco even described to Ochoa how the needle would go into his arm delivering the fatal injection. This interrogation took place on a Friday. The police put Ochoa in a hotel for the weekend, shielding him from any outside contact.