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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder and Rape |
Sentence: |
Life Imprisonment without possibility of parole |
Years Imprisoned: |
20 |
Year Crime: |
1992 |
Year Convicted: |
1992 |
Year Cleared: |
2012 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Illinois |
County or Region of Crime: |
Lake |
City of Crime: |
Waukegan |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Juan A. Rivera Jr. was wrongly convicted after three separate trials of the August 17, 1992 rape and murder of 11-year-old Holly Staker in Waukegan, Illinois. There was no physical, forensic or eyewitness evidence tying Juan Rivera to the crime, but after four days of interrogations during which he repeatedly denied any involvement he finally broke and signed a confession prepared by his interrogators. He was first convicted on November 19, 1993, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after the jury rejected the prosecution's request for the death penalty. Rivera's convictions were overturned in 1996 and a new trial was ordered by the Illinois Court of Appeal. Rivera was convicted by a jury on October 2, 1998 after his retrial. He was again sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His convictions were affirmed by the appeals court in 2001. In 2005 DNA testing excluded Rivera as the source of semen recovered from Holly's vagina. That new evidence was the basis of Rivera's post-conviction petition for a new trial that was granted on August 29, 2006. A jury convicted Rivera on May 8, 2009 for a third time. The jury chose to believe Rivera's confession over the exculpatory DNA evidence. He was again sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Rivera appealed. On December 9, 2011 the Illinois Appellate Court decided Rivera's direct appeal by overturning his conviction on the basis his confession was unreliable and without it there was not enough evidence to support his conviction, and thus his conviction was "unjustified and cannot stand." The Cook County State's Attorney's office filed a motion to dismiss the charges against Rivera that was granted on January 6, 2012. Rivera was released after 20 years in prison. On October 30, 2012 Rivera filed a federal civil rights lawsuit complaint that named as defendants: Lake County, various local governments, and members of the Illinois State Police. Melissa Sanders married Rivera on October 31, 2000. After they were married Melissa was instrumental in getting the Northwestern University’s Center on Wrongful Convictions to accept his case. More than two years after Rivera's release, he filed a petition in 2014 to dissolve his marriage to Melissa. Juan A. Rivera received about $213,000 compensation from the State of Illinois after he was granted a Certificate of Innocence. On March 20, 2015 it was announced that Rivera settled his federal civil rights lawsuit against Lake County and the City of Waukegan for a total of $20 million. Lake County agreed to pay Rivera $12.5 million, and the City of Waukegan agreed to pay $7.5 million. At the time it was the largest settlement of a federal civil rights lawsuit related to a wrongful conviction in U.S. history. Rivera's share of the settlement is $11.36 million. On September 30, 2016 the Illionis Court of Appeals ruled that the lawsuit settlement and state compensation is marital property, and Melissa has a right to a share of the settlement." |
Conviction Caused By: |
False confession by Rivera after four days of interrogations during which he repeatedly denied any involvement. He finally broke and signed a confession prepared by his interrogators. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On December 9, 2011 the Illinois Appellate Court overturned Rivera's conviction on the basis his confession was unreliable and without it there was not enough evidence to support his conviction, and thus his conviction was "unjustified and cannot stand." The Cook County State's Attorney's office filed a motion to dismiss the charges against Rivera that was granted on January 6, 2012." |
Defendant Aided By: |
Northwestern University School of Law’s Center on Wrongful Convictions. Federal civil rights lawsuit was represnted by attorneys Jon Loevy and Locke Bowman. |
Compensation Awarded: |
"$20,213,000 million total. $12.5 million (Lake County, IL, March 2015), $7.5 million (City of Waukegan, IL, March 2015) & $213,000 (State of Illinois, 2014)" |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
19 |
Age When Released: |
39 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Hispanic |
Information Source 1: |
"People v. Rivera, 962 NE 2d 53 (Ill. Appellate Court, 2nd Dist., 12-9-2011) (Reversing conviction based on unreliability of confession.)" |
Information Location 1: |
"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=14594815727245854276&q=People+v+juan+Rivera+2011+IL+App+&hl=en&as_sdt=4,14" |
Information Source 2: |
"Appellate court reverses Juan Rivera murder conviction, By Dan Rozek (staff), Lake County News-Sun, December 11, 2011" |
Information Location 2: |
http://newssun.suntimes.com/news/9380196-418/appellate-court-reverses-juan-rivera-murder-conviction.html |
Information Source 3: |
"Juan Rivera, Center on Wrongful Convictions, Northwestern School of Law" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.law.northwestern.edu/cwc/exonerations/ilRiveraSummary.html |
Information Source 4: |
"Illinois man whose murder, rape convictions were overturned settles lawsuit for $20 million, By The Associated Press, Daily Journal (Franklin, IN), March 20, 2015" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/1e3de3be3df94b0bbe6b90c73fea4b0a/IL--Wrongful-Conviction-Lawsuit-Settlement/ |
Information Source 5: |
"In re Marriage of Juan A. Rivera and Melissa Sanders-Rivera, 2016 IL App (1st) 160552 (Ill. Ct. of Appeals, 4th Div., 9-30-2016) ($11.36 million settlement from Rivera's wrongful imprisonment is marital property.)" |
Information Location 5: |
http://www.illinoiscourts.gov/Opinions/AppellateCourt/2016/1stDistrict/1160552.pdf |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org