Man freed after 18 years as Orange County overturns 1998 robbery conviction
Guy Miles was cleared of a 1998 Fullerton armed-robbery after serving more than 18 years in prison.
After spending 6,895 days behind bars for a 1998 Fidelity Financial Services robbery, Guy Miles has been officially exonerated by Orange County prosecutors. The conviction, originally based on two unreliable eyewitness identifications, ignored alibi testimony placing Miles in Las Vegas at the time of the crime. The Conviction Integrity Unit, established by District Attorney Todd Spitzer, reviewed the case and set aside the guilty plea.
Assistance from the San Diego-based Innocence Center and later confessions from the true offenders, Jason Steward, Harold Bailey and Bernard Teamer, were pivotal. Miles accepted a plea that recognized his time served, leading to his release. Officials praised the decision as a reaffirmation of the justice system’s duty to pursue truth.
Why it matters
The case highlights flaws in eyewitness identification and the importance of post-conviction review.
In this story
