Wendy Koen tracked down Denise Powell more than 20 years after the police took her to police station and said, “You’re not going to leave until you tell us something.” The police were investigating a carjacking attempt that resulted in the murder of a florist, Vincent Gonzales, in Venice.

Denise Powell, an African American drug user, lied to the police in order to get herself out of the situation. Losing her wits under the pressure, Powell named Tim Atkins, another African American teenager known to hang out with a local gang. The police moved fast, nabbed Tim, and put him behind the bars before he could even say hello.

Tim was behind bars for twenty years, futilely asserting his innocence.

The conviction was based upon Powell’s testimony in the police station, a testimony never supported by the witness herself in court. This was because the entire police force failed to find and produce Powell during the trial. The only person who could locate Powell was Wendy Koen, an LL.M. student.

Of course, the police had another great piece of evidence to put Tim Atkins behind bars. The shootout victim’s wife, a witness of the murder, claimed that the assailant’s height was 5 feet 4 inches. Ironically, Tim was six feet tall. That incriminating piece of evidence proved his guilt by another six inches beyond doubt.

Wendy, a member of California Innocence Project, convinced Judge Tynan to discard Tim’s conviction with the evidence she had gathered. That’s how, on Feb. 9, Tim was released after two decades of imprisonment.

Nonetheless, Deputy District Attorney Scott Collins still held, “We believe the right person was tried and convicted.”

Still, Collins passed his opportunity for a retrial, saying, “Based on the state of the evidence in 2007 and the trial court’s ruling on the habeas petition, we are no longer able to proceed on this matter.”

Atkins’ lawyer said that they didn’t have any evidence then, and they don’t have any now.