Rolando Cruz

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Charge:	First Degree Murder
Sentence:	Death
Years Imprisoned:	12
Year Crime:	1983
Year Convicted:	1985
Year Cleared:	1995
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Illinois
County or Region of Crime:	DuPage
City of Crime:	Naperville
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Rolando Cruz was codefendant of Alejandro Hernandez. The two men were convicted after two trials and acquitted after Cruz's third trial. Cruz and Hernandez were convicted in 1985 of the 1983 abduction, rape and murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico in DuPage County, Illinois. The men were convicted on the basis of police perjury, witness perjury, tampering with evidence, and Cruz's alleged "confession." The men were sentenced to death. Both men were reconvicted after their convictions were overturned on appeal. They were sentenced to death after their retrial. Cruz waived his right to a jury trial for his third trial, and the judge acquitted him. Cruz' acquittal was based on a sheriff deputy's sworn admission that he had perjured himself with the knowledge of his superiors and multiple prosecutors, and DNA testing of crime scene evidence in September 1995 that excluded Cruz (and Hernandez), and the absence of any physical evidence. The DNA tests were unavailable at the time of their 1985 convictions. Cruz was released on November 3, 1995. The DuPage County state's attorney filed a motion to dismiss the charges against Hernandez, that was granted in December 1995, and he was released. Three prosecutors and four sheriff deputy's were criminally charged in a conspiracy to have them falsely convicted and executed. None of those defendants were convicted. In September 2000 DuPage County settled the federal civil rights lawsuits filed separately by Cruz, Hernandez and Stephen Buckley for a total of $3.5 million, out of which there attorney's were to be paid. Buckley was the codefendant of Cruz and Hernandez who wasn't retried after the jury couldn't reach a verdict after the first trial of the three. It has been reported that Cruz and Hernandez both received 1.4 million minus their legal fees, and Buckley $700,000. Cruz was awarded $120,300 by the State of Illinois as compensation in 2003. Pardoned by Illinois Gov. George Ryan in December 2002. On July 28, 2009, Brian Dugan pled guilty to the abduction, rape and murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico. Authorities disregarded Dugan's confession in 1985 to solely committing the crime, before either Cruz or Hernandez were tried. The lead DuPage County detective on the case resigned in 1985 in protest of what he believed was the prosecution of two innocent men."
Conviction Caused By:	"Falsely convicted on the basis of "alleged" false confession, police perjury, witness perjury, tampering with evidence and prosecutorial misconduct."
Innocence Proved By:	DNA testing and admission by sheriff deputy that he gave perjured testimony against Cruz and Hernandez.
Defendant Aided By:	Innocence Project NY
Compensation Awarded:	"$1,520,300 total. $120,300 (State of Illinois, 2003) and $1.4 million (DuPage County, Sept. 2000)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	19
Age When Released:	31
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Hispanic
Information Source 1:	Death Penalty Information Center
Information Location 1:	http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/Innocentlist.html
Information Source 2:	"DuPage got a deal settling Cruz suit for $3.5 Million, By Eric Zorn, Chicago Tribune, September 28, 2000, pg. 1"
Information Location 2:	http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~critcrim/wrong/cruzd.html
Information Source 3:	""The Wrong Man," Alan Berlow, Atlantic Monthly, November 1999."
Information Location 3:
Information Source 4:	NW School of Law Center on Wrongful Convictions
Information Location 4:	http://www.law.northwestern.edu/depts/clinic/wrongful/exonerations/cruz.htm
Information Source 5:	"Convicted by Juries, Exonerated by Science: Case Studies in the Use of DNA Evidence to Establish Innocence after Trial, by Edward Connors, Thomas Lundregan, Neal Miller and Tom McEwen (US DOJ, National Institute of Justice, June 1996)"
Information Location 5:
Book About Case:	"Victims of Justice -- The True Story of Two Innocent Men Condemned to Die and a Prosecution Out of Control, by Thomas Frisbie and Randy Garrett (Avon Books 1998)"
Book Information:
Book About Case (2):	"Victims of Justice Revisited, by Thomas Frisbie and Randy Garrett (Avon Books 2005)"
Book Information (2):
Movie About Case:
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Rolando Cruz

Charge:

First Degree Murder

Sentence:

Death

Years Imprisoned:

12

Year Crime:

1983

Year Convicted:

1985

Year Cleared:

1995

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Illinois

County or Region of Crime:

DuPage

City of Crime:

Naperville

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

"Falsely convicted on the basis of "alleged" false confession, police perjury, witness perjury, tampering with evidence and prosecutorial misconduct."

Innocence Proved By:

DNA testing and admission by sheriff deputy that he gave perjured testimony against Cruz and Hernandez.

Defendant Aided By:

Innocence Project NY

Compensation Awarded:

"$1,520,300 total. $120,300 (State of Illinois, 2003) and $1.4 million (DuPage County, Sept. 2000)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

19

Age When Released:

31

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Hispanic

Information Source 1:

Death Penalty Information Center

Information Location 1:

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/Innocentlist.html

Information Source 2:

"DuPage got a deal settling Cruz suit for $3.5 Million, By Eric Zorn, Chicago Tribune, September 28, 2000, pg. 1"

Information Location 2:

http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~critcrim/wrong/cruzd.html

Information Source 3:

""The Wrong Man," Alan Berlow, Atlantic Monthly, November 1999."

Information Location 3:

Information Source 4:

NW School of Law Center on Wrongful Convictions

Information Location 4:

http://www.law.northwestern.edu/depts/clinic/wrongful/exonerations/cruz.htm

Information Source 5:

"Convicted by Juries, Exonerated by Science: Case Studies in the Use of DNA Evidence to Establish Innocence after Trial, by Edward Connors, Thomas Lundregan, Neal Miller and Tom McEwen (US DOJ, National Institute of Justice, June 1996)"

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

"Victims of Justice -- The True Story of Two Innocent Men Condemned to Die and a Prosecution Out of Control, by Thomas Frisbie and Randy Garrett (Avon Books 1998)"

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

"Victims of Justice Revisited, by Thomas Frisbie and Randy Garrett (Avon Books 2005)"

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: