Cesar Rios

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Charge:	Homicide (criminally negligent)
Sentence:	Exonerated After Conviction But Prior to Sentencing
Years Imprisoned:	0.02
Year Crime:	2005
Year Convicted:	2009
Year Cleared:	2010
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	New York
County or Region of Crime:	Bronx
City of Crime:	New York City
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Cesar Rios was wrongly convicted on February 18, 2009 of criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment in an apartment house fire in 2005 in the Bronx that resulted in two firefighters leaping 50 feet to their deaths. The two co-defendants were Cesar Rios the former owner of the apartment, and the 234 East 178th Street Corporation that owned the apartment at the time of the fire. They were accused of allowing illegal partitions in two of the apartments that caused the firefighters to become disoriented and forced them to jump to their deaths. A week before their convictions a different jury that heard the same evidence and acquitted the apartment tenants of the same charges the owners faced. The tenants had installed the partitions so they could sublet their apartments. The two defendants filed a motion for a new trial, Rios was released on bail. Prior to their sentencing, the trial judge acquitted the defendants on February 23, 2010, of the charges based on the reasoning that they didn't have knowledge about the partitions, and "An individual or entity cannot be convicted of a crime without evidence of actual knowledge,”"
Conviction Caused By:	Jury failed to consider that the defendant's had to have knowledge of the partitions to be found guilty.
Innocence Proved By:	"Prior to their sentencing, the trial judge acquitted the defendants of the charges based on the reasoning that they didn't have knowledge about the partitions, and "An individual or entity cannot be convicted of a crime without evidence of actual knowledge,”"
Defendant Aided By:
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Was Perpetrator Identified?
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Age When Released:
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Convictions overturned in Bronx Firefighter Deaths, By Sam Dolnick (staff), New York Times, February 23, 2010."
Information Location 1:	http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/judge-reverses-conviction-of-owners-of-bronx-building-where-firefighters-died/
Information Source 2:	"Bronx Landlords Guilty in 2 Firefighters’ Deaths, By John Eligon and Mathew R. Warren (staff), New York Times, February 19, 2009"
Information Location 2:	http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/nyregion/19bronx.html?_r=1
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Cesar Rios

Charge:

Homicide (criminally negligent)

Sentence:

Exonerated After Conviction But Prior to Sentencing

Years Imprisoned:

0.02

Year Crime:

2005

Year Convicted:

2009

Year Cleared:

2010

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

New York

County or Region of Crime:

Bronx

City of Crime:

New York City

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Jury failed to consider that the defendant's had to have knowledge of the partitions to be found guilty.

Innocence Proved By:

"Prior to their sentencing, the trial judge acquitted the defendants of the charges based on the reasoning that they didn't have knowledge about the partitions, and "An individual or entity cannot be convicted of a crime without evidence of actual knowledge,”"

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Convictions overturned in Bronx Firefighter Deaths, By Sam Dolnick (staff), New York Times, February 23, 2010."

Information Location 1:

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/judge-reverses-conviction-of-owners-of-bronx-building-where-firefighters-died/

Information Source 2:

"Bronx Landlords Guilty in 2 Firefighters’ Deaths, By John Eligon and Mathew R. Warren (staff), New York Times, February 19, 2009"

Information Location 2:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/nyregion/19bronx.html?_r=1

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Book About Case (2):

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Movie About Case:

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