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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder |
Sentence: |
45 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
16.25 |
Year Crime: |
1993 |
Year Convicted: |
1994 |
Year Cleared: |
2009 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Illinois |
County or Region of Crime: |
Cook |
City of Crime: |
Chicago |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Thaddeus J. Jimenez, aka T.J., was wrongly convicted in 1994 of murdering a 19-year-old rival gang member in Chicago, Illinois when he was 13 years old. Thaddeus Jimenez was tried as an adult, and his conviction was based on eyewitness testimony. He was sentenced to 45 years imprisonment by a judge who described him as a "little punk." In November 1996 the Illinois Court of Appeals overturned Jimenez's conviction and ordered a new trial based on errors made during the jury selection. Jimenez was reconvinced after a retrial in 1997. In July 2006 and May 2007, two key eyewitnesses recanted their testimony. Jimenez's attorneys also obtained an audio tape of a man admitting to committing the shooting, saying, "I had to shoot him" and "after I shot him, I ran." He also said on the tape that he was relieved the police "pinned the blame" on Jimenez. Jimenez filed a motion to vacate his conviction and a new trial based on the new evidence. On May 1, 2009, with the support of the Cook County State's Attorney, Jimenez's conviction was vacated by a Cook County judge, and he was released the same day from prison. The same day the man who confessed on the tape was arrested in Indiana on suspicion of committing the murder for which Jimenez was wrongly convicted. Jimenez was wrongly imprisoned for 16 years and 2 months and 27 days after his arrest in February 1993. On June 3, 2009 a Cook County Circuit Court judge signed a "certificate of innocence" that allowed Jimenez to file a claim for compensation with the State of Illinois, and he was subsequently awarded $199,000. Jimenez filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Chicago and Chicago PD officers involved in his case. In January 2012 a federal court jury awarded Jimenez $25 million. The City appealed, and on October 7, 2013 the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the juries verdict. The city then paid Jimenez the judgment. Jimenez used much of his money to rebuild his old Chicago gang. On March 9, 2017 Jimenez was sentenced in federal court in Chicago to nine years and two months in federal prison after he pled guilty in June 2016 to being a felon in possession of a handgun related to him non-fatally shooting a former gang member in 2015 in broad daylight. Jimenez was sued by the man he shot, and in December 2016 the man was awarded a $6 million judgment." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On May 1, 2009 Jimenez's conviction was vacated by a Cook County judge based on new evidence of his innocence, and he was released the same day from prison." |
Defendant Aided By: |
Northwestern Law's Center on Wrongful Convictions. Chicago law firm of Loevy & Loevy represented Jimenez in his civil lawsuit. |
Compensation Awarded: |
"$25,199,000 total. $199,000 (State of Illinois, 2010) & $25 million (City of Chicago, Oct. 2013)" |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
Yes |
Age When Imprisoned: |
13 |
Age When Released: |
30 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Arrested at 13, inmate freed, BY Maurice Possley, Chicago Sun-Times, May 4, 2009" |
Information Location 1: |
"http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1557000,CST-NWS-Convict04.article" |
Information Source 2: |
"Man arrested for murder when 13 is exonerated, The Chicago Tribune, May 4, 2009" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/05/thaddeus-jimenez-murder-charge-sentence-vacated-chicago-cook-county-states-attorney.html |
Information Source 3: |
"Man exonerated after 16 years behind bars, WLS-TV Channel 7 (Chicago, IL), May 4, 2009" |
Information Location 3: |
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=6795484&rss=rss-wls-article-6795484 |
Information Source 4: |
"Illinois v Thaddeus Jimenez, No. 1-94-4358 (5th Div. IL Ct of Appeals, 11-1-1996)" |
Information Location 4: |
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Information Source 5: |
"Chicago man who spent $25M settlement on old gang gets nine years in prison, By Terence Cullen (Staff writer), The New York Daily News, March 10, 2017" |
Information Location 5: |
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/man-spent-settlement-gang-heads-prison-graphic-video-article-1.2994110 |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org