The internet was flooded with outcry on Saturday as footage from the trial that vacated Hastings’ murder conviction circulated on social media, with some noting that his release alone is not enough to remedy the judicial wrongdoing.
Video clips of the trial, which run just over a minute long, show a close-up of Hastings’ face as his conviction is vacated. Relief seems to wash over Hastings, as he closes his eyes in what appears to be a moment of emotional overwhelm – for the first time in over 38 years, he will walk as a free man.
Many netizens cried out against the criminal justice system, with one Twitter user arguing that the state should “heavily compensate” Hastings for “the losses and injuries incurred by the wrongful conviction.” Others suggested Hastings be given the retirement funds from “every cop for every year” he spent in incarceration.
Still, others used the opportunity to point out that Hastings, who is Black, is just one of “many innocent Black people” to have been wrongfully convicted.
One of the primary points of criticism against the justice system was the fact that it took over two decades for Hastings’ request for DNA testing to be granted, with one user pointing out that Hastings “would have been found innocent 22 years ago if the test had been done.”
Netizens also used the Hastings outcome as an argument against capital punishment, which is still practiced in half of US states and which the California district attorney originally tried to seek for Hastings. There was also a fair amount of ire for the District Attorney’s Office which ignored Hastings 2000 request for DNA testing.
In 1988, Hastings was convicted in California of murdering Roberta Wydermyer, who was killed by a gunshot wound to the head and then placed in the trunk of her own car. Though there was a semen sample found on her body at the time, the DNA was only tested in June 2021, when the specimen was found to belong to a different suspect, who died in jail after committing crimes similar to the one Hastings was wrongfully jailed for.
Unlike his defenders on social media, Hastings doesn’t appear to hold any grudges, telling reporters he “wasn’t bitter” about the situation.
"I prayed for many years that this day would come," Mr Hastings said. "I am not pointing fingers; I am not standing up here a bitter man, but I just want to enjoy my life now while I have it."