A man convicted of murder in a 2015 case is set to be released after a new state law made him eligible to be retroactively sentenced as a juvenile offender.

A lawyer for a victim’s family in the case said a Los Angeles County prosecutor purposefully did not call any witnesses at a crucial hearing.

But in a statement to KTLA Tuesday, the DA’s Office said there were no witnesses who could testify in the hearing, and that the judge was “left with no legal option other than to terminate juvenile jurisdiction.”

Andrew Cachu was originally sentenced to 50 years to life in prison after being tried and convicted as an adult in the Palmdale homicide of Luis Amela. The defendant was 17 at the time, but he has only served six years of his term.

Kathleen Cady, an attorney representing Amela’s family said that the new state law, as well as District Attorney George Gascón’s directive to end the practice of sending youth to the adult court system, “is just not justice.”

Lauren Lyster reports for the KTLA 5 News at 5 on Nov. 9, 2021.