Pneumonia evidence upends a decades old conviction in baby's death to free Stephen Martinez

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DENVER (AP) — A judge on Tuesday threw out the first-degree murder conviction of a man found guilty in the death of his then-girlfriend's 4-month-old daughter nearly 30 years ago because of new evidence in the case.

Stephen Martinez was convicted in 2000 and sentenced to life in prison after prosecutors argued he had beaten Heather Mares in 1998. But recently presented defense evidence that the baby died of pneumonia prompted prosecutors to reexamine the case and conclude that they could not prove Martinez was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Denver District Attorney's Office didn't oppose a request from Martinez's lawyers at the Korey Wise Innocent Project to overturn his conviction.

District Court Judge Andrew Luxen overturned Martinez's conviction, ordered him to be released from prison and dismissed the case over the objections of Mares' family, including her parents Kim Estrada and Chris Mares. They believe Martinez killed the baby and said he had not expressed any remorse.

"My life was stopped 27 hears ago along with our family’s,” said Estrada, who began sobbing after Luxen announced his decision.

Martinez was prosecuted under what was at the time a new state statute allowing first-degree murder charges instead of the lesser charge of child abuse resulting in death.

Martinez declined to speak during the hearing.

One of his lawyers, Jeanne Segil, said the criminal justice system failed Martinez as well as Mares' family.

“This case is a tragedy on every front,” she said.

Martinez's aunt, Theresa Garcia, said she wished Martinez's parents, who died while he was in prison, could be be here to see if him released.

“I know they are looking down on us today and smiling as their son returns home and is reunited with his loved ones," she said.

Martinez’s lawyers say his trial mistakenly focused on a false confession and shaken baby syndrome, also known as abusive head trauma, which some defense attorneys and experts have called into question. Segil said complications from pneumonia can cause the same symptoms associated with the syndrome, including bleeding and swelling of the brain.

Denver District Attorney John Walsh stressed that there was no misconduct by police or prosecutors who worked on the case.

“This is simply an example of the criminal justice system being willing and able to reassess a case when necessary,” he said.