SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gennel Miles has been released after serving 16 years in prison for a felony murder conviction that attorneys said was based on weak and later-recanted testimony, according to a press release issued by Keker, Van Nest & Peters.
Miles was freed after lawyers sought relief under California’s felony murder reforms, which created a path for resentencing people convicted under the state’s former law.
The firm said its Felony Murder Resentencing Project has helped seven individuals reduce or overturn life sentences since reforms took effect in 2019.
Miles was convicted despite no physical evidence tying him to the killing, his attorneys said. It says the case relied almost entirely on double-hearsay testimony that was inconsistent, contradicted by phone records and later recanted.
Under the law in effect at the time, Miles was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
SB 1437 limited felony murder liability to people who directly participated in a killing or were otherwise legally responsible under the revised standard. The law also created a process for people convicted under the former statute to seek resentencing.
According to the firm, its resentencing project accepted Miles’ case as part of broader efforts to represent people serving life terms for killings they did not commit.
Attorneys Maya James, Julia Greenberg, Kelly Kaufman and Kayla Crowell uncovered a video in which a key witness recanted prior testimony, identified witnesses supporting Miles’ alibi and gathered declarations disputing the prosecution’s account.
Those efforts led to motions challenging the hearsay evidence that had been central to the original trial, according to the release.
The firm said that before a resentencing trial in Sacramento Superior Court, the parties reached a plea agreement allowing Miles’ release based on time served. A judge then approved the amended judgment and ordered his immediate release.
The release describes the initiative as a pro bono effort launched in 2019 in response to SB 1437 and says it has helped at least seven people statewide overturn or reduce murder convictions imposed under the prior law.
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