An innocent man who spent 38 years behind bars in California was awarded $25 million in what his lawyers called the largest wrongful conviction settlement in state history. Hastings sought DNA testing of that evidence in 2000, but at that time, the DA’s office denied the request. Hastings submitted a claim of innocence to the DA’s Conviction Integrity Unit in 2021, and DNA testing found that the semen was not his. In 2022, when he was 69, Hastings conviction was vacated at the request of prosecutors and his lawyers. Packnett wasn’t investigated for Wydermyer’s murder at the time.