At the age of only fifteen, Efren Paredes, Jr. was arrested and convicted as an adult for the 1989 homicide and robbery of a store manager in St. Joseph, Michigan. He subsequently received three life sentences and was condemned to die in prison.

But, did he do it?

Compelling evidence exists that Efren did not commit the crime for which he is imprisoned. Unfortunately, as occurs with many wrongful conviction cases, the full evidence of his innocence was not available at the time of trial.

As every expert in the legal field knows, this is not unusual. While many of us like to imagine a plain, open-and-shut case where no errors are ever made, the reality of the legal process is far different. Hundreds of people across the country have been proven innocent of crimes after spending years in prison. In Michigan alone, nearly a hundred people have been exonerated since 1991.

In fact, wrongful convictions happen despite the best intentions, and they are not easily overturned. It may take years worth of time for more complete evidence of innocence to be uncovered by an experienced private investigator or the volunteers of an Innocence Project.

There are also many human factors at work. People who participated (or avoided participating) in the original trial undergo significant life changes. Witnesses may recant false statements they made to police, or made during trial. Sometimes they admit to being coerced by original investigators. In other instances, new witnesses surface after withholding information for years; either because they had no idea it mattered, or they once feared to speak out in the face of public pressure.

Even the testimony of expert witnesses is not infallible: in some cases, it has been soundly proven false. Other times, DNA evidence is revealed which exonerates a person.

So what’s happening now?

In 2012 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life without parole sentences for juvenile offenders are unconstitutional and ordered (in 2016) the resentencing of all 2,500 prisoners impacted by their ruling. Efren is among the 350 Michigan prisoners who must be resentenced. He is scheduled for resentencing in 2019.

Today, after spending two-thirds of his life in prison, Efren is a 45-year-old blogger, social justice advocate, proud father, and loving husband. Supporters for his release include widely known wrongful convictions expert Paul J. Ciolino, who has frequently appeared on 48 Hours for CBS; along with scores of legal scholars, social justice advocates, Latinx Studies scholars, juvenile justice organizations, faith-based leaders, and ordinary citizens. His story has been widely featured in newspapers, magazines, and on numerous websites and social networks.

Efren is also the subject of the new multi-channel documentary film installation, “Half Truths and Full Lies.”

How can I comment or talk to Efren?

This interview will be released in several installments over the course of the next few months. Updates will also be posted on www.fb.com/Free.Efren. Readers are invited to contact the blog administrator to submit additional interview questions for Efren to answer as part of the final installation of this interview.

You can also contact Efren personally via email by visiting www.JPay.com. To add him to your list of contacts and begin emailing him, locate “Michigan” in the State pull-down menu on the website and enter “203116” where it requests his prison number. JPay is the only email platform currently approved by the Michigan Department of Corrections for the public to use to communicate with a prisoner electronically.

To learn more about Efren please visit:

Efren’s Blog: www.4Efren.blogspot.com
Online Support Petition: www.TinyURL.com/Efren1016

List of Accomplishments: www.TinyURL.com/EfrenCV2016
Website: www.4Efren.com