CBS: Homeless Man Spent 13 Years Behind Bars After Trying to Break into Church Kitchen
August 17, 2010 4:13 PM
Posted by Naimah Jabali-Nash
LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) A California man who spent 13 years in prison after trying to break into a church to find something to eat, and who became an example of the state's strict three-strikes law, has been ordered released from prison by a Superior Court judge.
Tears rolled down the face of 47-year-old Gregory Taylor when Judge Peter Espinoza ordered that he be set free, reducing his sentence from 25 years to life, to the time he has already served.
Taylor was arrested in July 1997 when he tried to get into the kitchen of St. Joseph's Church in downtown Los Angeles. When apprehended, he simply told police that he was hungry.