Edar Duarte Santos

Go to Database Search Page

Go to Database Index Page

Charge:	Kidnapping (incld. Abduction)
Sentence:	12 years
Years Imprisoned:	5
Year Crime:	1997
Year Convicted:	2002
Year Cleared:	2003
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Illinois
County or Region of Crime:	Cook
City of Crime:	Chicago
Result:	Pardoned
Summary of Case:	"Edar Duarte Santos was one of four co-defendants wrongly convicted of the 1997 murder of Sindulfo Miranda. Edar Santos was jailed in 1997, and held in the Cook County Jail for five years until in 2002 he was offered a deal to be released immediately in exchange for his guilty plea to kidnapping. The convictions of all four co-defendants were reversed in December 2002 after the actual killers were charged in federal court based on information obtained by the FBI. Three of the four men filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Chicago, and Santos was awarded $3,000,000 in damages in February 2006. The money was paid in July 2008. Santos was pardoned on the basis of his innocence by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich in July 2008, which made him eligible for compensation from the State of Illinois. Santos was awarded wrongful imprisonment compensation of $132,777 by the State of Illinois."
Conviction Caused By:	"Police misconduct. Alleged confessions by two of the four defendants led to the convictions of the other two co-defendants. The alleged confessions were fabricated by the police. One of the confessions was in English, when the defendant only spoke English, and the signature on the confession wasn't his."
Innocence Proved By:	Actual murderers discovered
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:	"$3,132,777 total. $3,000,000 (City of Chicago, Feb 2006) and $132,777 (State of Illinois, 2009)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?	Yes
Age When Imprisoned:	30
Age When Released:	31
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Hispanic
Information Source 1:	"Bogus Confession: Feds: 2 prisoners will be freed after charges against drug ring," Joe Biesk, (AP), December 18, 2002"
Information Location 1:	http://www.truthinjustice.org/Bogus_Confession.htm
Information Source 2:	"Blagojevich pardons 19, By Azam Ahmed and David Heinzmann (staff writers), Chicago Tribune, July 3, 2008"
Information Location 2:	"http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-blagojevich-pardonsjul04,0,5174310.story"
Information Source 3:
Information Location 3:
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:

Go to Database Search Page

Go to Database Index Page

Edar Duarte Santos

Charge:

Kidnapping (incld. Abduction)

Sentence:

12 years

Years Imprisoned:

5

Year Crime:

1997

Year Convicted:

2002

Year Cleared:

2003

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Illinois

County or Region of Crime:

Cook

City of Crime:

Chicago

Result:

Pardoned

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

Actual murderers discovered

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

"$3,132,777 total. $3,000,000 (City of Chicago, Feb 2006) and $132,777 (State of Illinois, 2009)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Yes

Age When Imprisoned:

30

Age When Released:

31

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Hispanic

Information Source 1:

"Bogus Confession: Feds: 2 prisoners will be freed after charges against drug ring," Joe Biesk, (AP), December 18, 2002"

Information Location 1:

http://www.truthinjustice.org/Bogus_Confession.htm

Information Source 2:

"Blagojevich pardons 19, By Azam Ahmed and David Heinzmann (staff writers), Chicago Tribune, July 3, 2008"

Information Location 2:

"http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-blagojevich-pardonsjul04,0,5174310.story"

Information Source 3:

Information Location 3:

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: