Derek Martinez

Derek Martinez has been fighting a wrongful murder conviction for over 20 years.  With a complete lack of physical, forensic or circumstantial evidence, Derek was convicted and sentenced to 54 years to life, based solely upon the testimony of a mentally disabled state witness who did not witness the murder or any event related to it. In fact, her testimony was that she believed that she remembered Derek making a confession seven years prior. At the time of her testimony, this witness had been diagnosed with severe PTSD and suffered reported difficulty with her memory and with distinguishing dreams from reality.  In 2019, the witness testified that she had testified from notes at Derek’s trial because she did not in fact have personal knowledge of those facts, and she can not be certain that they reflect her memory. Further, Derek presented a series of DNA testing which showed that multiple pieces of the evidence excludes Derek as a contributor to the DNA from the bloody crime scene. 

Derek is represented by the People Commission for Integrity in Criminal Justice and he has submitted over 11 petitions and appeals to prove his innocence since 2007, including over 4 motions for DNA testing.  His final petition to the California State Supreme Court, filed after an evidentiary hearing, was denied on February 16, 2022. Subsequent requests to file in the federal court were denied in 2023. Now, the only recourse left to Derek is clemency by the governor.