Our Cases

Started in 2014, the Innocence Rights of Orange County began with one client, Juan Rayford. He was sentenced to eleven consecutive life sentences for allegedly shooting at a house where eleven people lived. No one was seriously injured, and Juan has maintained his innocence since day one. Nevertheless, he was prosecuted under the Kill Zone Theory. This theory eliminates the need for the prosecutor to prove the element of specific intent when charging attempted murder as long as the individuals are standing within a "kill zone". The "kill zone" is an ambiguous area defined by the prosecutor which results in excessive attempted murder charges. Juan's petition for review was granted by the California Supreme Court in December of 2016, and we are currently waiting for  the Court to hear this case.

Dupree Glass was prosecuted in the same case as Juan Rayford. In March 2017, we filed a writ of habeas corpus on the same grounds as Juan's case.

In 2018, we began investigating the murder of Joan Virginia Anderson, which occurred in Fountain Valley in 1979. Our research revealed that Evins, who was arrested and convicted in for Anderson's murder in 1985, may not have been responsible for the crime. Notably, the crime bears remarkable similarities to those of the Golden State Killer (also known as the East Area Rapist or the Original Night Stalker), who has been linked to Orange County crimes throughout the 1980s. Although Evins passed away in 2013, after spending over thirty years in prison, the Orange County District Attorney's office has agreed to review Evins' case to determine whether he was falsely accused. For more information about William Lee Evins, please see our media features in the Los Angeles Times and Patch.com.