He served 19 years for a crime he didn’t commit. His exoneration could restore your faith in humanity.
Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Saturday, March 2. I’m Harriet Ryan, an investigative reporter at the L.A. Times. Here’s what you need to know to start your weekend:
- A hippie Topanga Canyon mom helped free a man wrongfully convicted of murder
- A new high-speed train from Vegas to SoCal will be a model for the nation — if it succeeds
- Take our L.A. Times news quiz
- And here’s today’s e-newspaper
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He served 19 years for a crime he didn’t commit. On Tuesday, his freedom became official.
In downtown L.A.’s criminal courts building last week, a prosecutor crossed paths with a convicted murderer in a crowded hallway.
She hugged him, and then shook hands with his daughter.
This was one of several head-spinning scenes that played out Tuesday as a 41-year-old man named Jofama Coleman was formally exonerated of the 2003 drive-by murder of a South L.A. teenager.
Courtrooms are rarely happy places, but a sense of joy permeated the proceedings. Deputy Dist. Atty. Lara Bazán and other prosecutors greeted Coleman and his lawyer, Ellen Eggers, like old friends and treated his family like honored guests, with one D.A. supervisor asking relatives in the spectator’s gallery, “Can you guys see OK?”
The audience erupted in applause as a smiling Superior Court Judge William Ryan pronounced Coleman “factually innocent” of the murder. As a beaming Coleman left court, he stopped to embrace a petite woman in jeans who was neither a relative nor an attorney.
“It’s official,” Jessica Jacobs Dirschel said, her eyes wet with tears.
A hippie Topanga Canyon mom partnered with Coleman to fight for his freedom
The only-in-L.A. partnership between Coleman and Dirschel, a hippie mom from Topanga Canyon, led to his exoneration and the freeing of a second man.
It starts in the early days of the COVID pandemic when Dirschel, like so many of us, was staving off boredom with Netflix. She ended up binge-watching a series about wrongful convictions and sensing a deep connection with Eggers, a former public defender featured on the program who had a track record of springing innocent men from prison.
I want to help, Dirschel told Eggers in a cold call.
The veteran lawyer didn’t know what to make of Dirschel. Eggers worked on cases for free at her dining room table and people just didn’t call her up to lend a hand. In fact, it was just the opposite. She had a stack of letters from inmates begging for help.
One of those was from Coleman, who was convicted in 2007 of the murder of 16-year-old Jose “Chino” Robles in the rough neighborhood of Westmont, sometimes called “Death Alley.” After additional pestering from Coleman’s brother, Eggers asked her eager new volunteer to take a look at the evidence.
Trigger warning, the rest of the story may restore your faith in humanity.
“It’s almost like a fairy tale,” Dirchel’s husband, John, told me. The “almost” qualification was necessary, he said, because “it should never have been told” in the first place.
Even with criminal justice reforms, exonerations are rare
The push in recent years to address mass incarceration in California has led to several new paths for prisoners to get out early, such as the resentencing of youth offenders and those convicted of felony murder.
Exonerations remain rare, though. George Gascon, arguably the country’s most progressive district attorney, has helped free 10 people who were wrongfully convicted since his 2020 election.
Now in a tough race for reelection, Gascon stood side by side with Coleman at a news conference Wednesday touting the exoneration. It was part of his office’s effort, he said, “to right the wrongs of the past.”
Read more here: She binged true crime on Netflix. Then she helped free two men from prison.
The week’s biggest stories
Climate and environment
- Will California’s incoming blizzard finally push snowpack above normal?
- Scientists warn that a crucial ocean current could collapse, altering global weather.
- High avalanche danger with winds topping 100 mph as a blizzard slams Tahoe, Mammoth and Sierra Nevada.
- Newsom wants to build a $16-billion water tunnel. Will it destroy California’s delta?
- California libraries may lose free passes to state parks as budget deficit mounts.
Elections
- Adam Schiff and Steve Garvey lead in the Senate race and are well positioned for runoff, a poll shows.
- Nithya Raman and Kevin De León got more homeless people off the street. Will that sway voters?
Crime and courts
- Trump’s trials: Recent court delays could help the former president.
- ‘What is this, “The Handmaid’s Tale”?’ Exploring moral questions posed by controversial IVF ruling.
- Diddy’s ‘Love’ producer Lil Rod accuses him and his associates of sexual assault and illicit behavior.
- Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs sexual harassment suit includes notable music industry names.
- A Russian court denies the appeal of a Los Angeles woman held on a ‘treason’ charge.
- As Chevy Camaro thefts skyrocket more than 1000% in L.A., police unlock a secret of car thieves.
More big stories
- The informant next door: A quiet L.A. life masked Kremlin ties for an FBI source accused of lying about Bidens.
- Squatters set up at a Hollywood Hills home. When police knocked, an OnlyFans model answered.
- What the frenzy over Kate Middleton’s ‘disappearance’ says about the royals — and us.
- A new high-speed train from Vegas to SoCal will be a model for the nation — if it succeeds.
- Forget California exodus. New Jersey residents lead an influx back into the Golden State.
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Column One
Column One is The Times’ home for narrative and longform journalism. Here’s a great piece from this week:
Released after two years of locked psychiatric care: A battle few families can fight. After two years in a locked psychiatric facility, John Maurer has moved into a board and care home, a step forward that couldn’t have happened without relentless advocacy by his politically connected sister.
More great reads
- Jack Antonoff, pop music’s production king, on Taylor Swift, his new album and the genre that’s ‘about to blow.’
- A tent encampment rises outside Ojai’s stately City Hall. Its residents might break your heart.
- ‘Why Costa Mesa? Why not Santa Ana?’ A buzzy mercado reflects a changing O.C.
- Nearing 80, she can no longer afford to own Arcadia’s Book Rack — or live in California.
- How to help a friend after a devastating breakup? Your first instinct is wrong.
- Looking for L.A.’s art cool kids? They’re hosting exhibits in laundry rooms and garages.
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.
For your weekend
Going out
- ☕Inside Quentin Tarantino’s cafe, Pam’s Coffy: retro vibes at the Vista Theater.
- 🍴The best places to eat and drink in L.A. this month, according to our food writers.
- 🎨 A guide to Frieze Los Angeles and an art extravaganza this weekend.
Staying in
- 🪴Before fantasizing over a spring garden, prep your raised beds. Here’s how to do it right.
- 📗What Dennis Rodman, Kate Moss and a 5,000-year-old Alpine iceman have in common.
- 🧑🍳 Here’s a recipe for chilaquiles verdes with hoja santa eggs and garlicky beans.
- ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.
How well did you follow the news this week? Take our quiz.
Sylvester Stallone plans to pack up and leave California for what state? Plus nine other questions from our weekly news quiz.
Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team
Harriet Ryan, investigative reporter
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com.
Start your day right
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