|
Wrongly Convicted Database Record
|
Charge: |
First Degree Murder |
Sentence: |
80 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
21 |
Year Crime: |
1988 |
Year Convicted: |
1990 |
Year Cleared: |
2011 |
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: |
"Jacques Rivera was wrongly convicted in August 1988 of a 1988 gang killing in Chicago based on the testimony of a single eyewitness. The witness was 12 at the time, and a week after he identified Rivera from a photo line-up he saw the actual shooter and told the police he had made a mistake. The police did not disclose that information to Rivera's lawyer. After a reinvestigation of Rivera's case by the Northwestern University Law School’s Center on Wrongful Convictions discovered the exculpatory evidence, they filed filed a motion for a new trial that was granted in September 2011 after the witness testified during an evidentiary hearing that he falsely selected Rivera from a lineup. Without any evidence of Rivera's guilty, the State's Attorney's Office in Cook County announced they wouldn't retry Rivera the charges were dismissed and he was released from the Cook County Jail on October 4, 2011 after 21 years of wrongful imprisonment. In 2012 Rivera was awarded $208,800 compensation by the State of Illinois. In June 2012 Rivera filed a federal civil rights lawsuit that named the City of Chicago, the Chicago PD, and several officers as defendants. His lawsuit claims that the officers mainipulated a young witness and falsified evidence to convict him. On June 29, 2018 a jury awarded Rivera a total of $17.175 million: $17 million for the City of Chicago, and a combined $175,000 to be paid by Chicago PD Detectives Reynaldo Guevara, Steve Gawrys and Ed Mingey." |
Conviction Caused By: |
"Prosecutor misconduct of failing to disclose that the lone eyewitness, a 12-year-old boy recanted his identification of Rivera when he saw the actual killer a week after the murder. Chicago Police Department Detective Reynaldo Guevara fabricated testimony and evidence to implicate suspects in a crime that included diecting witnesses who to pick out of a lineup, and extracting false confessions by beatings and torture. As of November 2019 14 men had their convictions overturned and charges dismissed or acquitted after a retrial due to Guevara's criminal conduct: Juan Johnson in 2004; Jacques Rivera in 2011; Jose Montanez and Armando Serrano in July 2016; Robert Almodovar and William Negron in April 2017; Jose Maysonet in November 2017; Gabriel Solache and Arturo DeLeon-Reyes in December 2017; Thomas Sierra in January 2018; Ariel Gomez in February 2018; Ricardo Rodriguez in March 2018; Robert Bouto in June 2018; and, Geraldo Iglesias in January 2019." |
Innocence Proved By: |
"Rivera was granted a new trial in September 2011 based on the recantation by the lone eyewitness. Without any evidence of Rivera's guilty, the State's Attorney's Office in Cook County announced they wouldn't retry Rivera the charges were dismissed and he was released from the Cook County Jail on October 4, 2011." |
Defendant Aided By: |
Criminal case was aided by Northwestern University's Center on Wrongful Convictions. Represented in civil lawsuit by Chicago based law firm of Loevy & Loevy. |
Compensation Awarded: |
"$17,383,800 total. $208,800 (State of Illinois, 2012) & $17,175,000 (City of Chicago, June 2018)" |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
|
Age When Imprisoned: |
25 |
Age When Released: |
46 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Man freed after serving 21 years for murder after witness recants, By Rummana Hussain (staff), Chicago Sun-Times, October 4, 2011" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.suntimes.com/news/crime/8032821-418/story.html |
Information Source 2: |
"Man freed after 21 years sues Chicago police, By Staff Reporters, Chicago Tribune, June 7, 2012" |
Information Location 2: |
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-06-07/news/chi-man-freed-after-21-years-sues-chicago-police-20120607_1_key-witness-new-trial-chicago-police-department |
Information Source 3: |
"Jury finds Chicago cops framed man for 1988 murder, awards him more than $17 million, By Jason Meisner (Reporter), Chicago Tribune, June 29, 2019" |
Information Location 3: |
https://loevy.com/big-wins/jury-finds-chicago-cops-framed-man-for-1988-murder-awards-him-more-than-17-million/ |
Information Source 4: |
|
Information Location 4: |
|
Information Source 5: |
|
Information Location 5: |
|
Book About Case: |
|
Book Information: |
|
Book About Case (2): |
|
Book Information (2): |
|
Movie About Case: |
|
Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org