HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Gordon Cordeiro walked out of the Maui Community Correctional Center to cheers and lei Friday afternoon.
“It’s freedom Friday,” he said.
Now 51 years old, Cordeiro was just 20 when he was convicted of the 1994 murder of Timothy Blaisdell in Kula.
“All these people here believed in me,” he said about the large crowd of family, friends, and his legal team with the Hawaii Innocence Project, who waited for his release.
Just hours earlier, Cordeiro was wearing a belly chain in a prison jumpsuit in court.
He started crying as Circuit Court judge Kirstin Hamman ruled that new DNA evidence shows Cordeiro would probably have changed the results of the trial.
Cordeiro said the first thing he wanted to do was visit his mother’s gravesite. She died the same year he went to prison.
His father, Dennis Cordeiro, choked back tears after the judge’s ruling.
“Relief, joy, happiness that my son can finally do some family celebrations before I leave this world,” he said.
Cordeiro’s DNA did not match any of the DNA recovered from the crime scene.
The initial suspect, Michael Freitas, turned the attention to Cordeiro in an effort to save himself. Freitas’ DNA and an unknown male’s DNA matched the evidence.
Ken Lawson, co-director of HIP, said he and the team have been fighting for Cordeiro since 2010.
“This is a case when you hear the facts, you know something deep down was not right,” Lawson said.
While the verdict was overturned, the Maui prosecutor’s office could refile charges.
“Certainly DNA evidence can be a compelling basis in a cold case such as this from 30 years ago. But I don’t believe they met the standard to have this conviction set aside,” said Maui deputy prosecutor Richard Rost.
Gina Gormley, one of Cordeiro’s attorneys, said that would be a mistake for the prosecutor’s office.
“If they really sat down and took the time to look at evidence that came out, they should not re-try this case,” she said.
Jennifer Brown, another attorney at HIP, said freedom is not easy for those who spent a lot of time in prison, but Cordeiro has a lot of family support and that will help.
He was a young mechanic when he was convicted and “so much of the world has changed since then,” Brown said.
HIP will work to get Cordeiro compensated. State law allows for $50,000 for every year served.
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