Wrongful Conviction Lawsuit Defense Blog : Wrongful Conviction Defense Lawyer & Attorney : Andrew M. Hale Law Firm

 Rosemary Sobol of the Chicago Sun Times is reporting :

Humboldt Park murder has connection to recent wrongful conviction award
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June 30, 2009
BY ROSEMARY SOBOL Staff Reporter
The Saturday murder of a Berwyn man occurred inside a sport-utility vehicle registered to a man who was recently awarded a record $21 million by a federal jury after he spent 11 years in prison for a murder conviction that was later overturned.

The slaying of 37-year-old Freddy Vasquez, of Berwyn, occurred at 7:06 a.m. on the 2400 block of West North Ave. in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, according to Shakespeare District police Capt. Marc Buslik.

Vasquez was sitting in the rear driver’s side seat of an SUV that is registered to Juan Johnson, who recently was awarded the $21 million award, according to Buslik, who said Johnson was not in the vehicle or on the scene of the incident.

A federal jury awarded the money to Johnson June 22 and attorneys for Johnson, an alleged Spanish Cobra leader, said his wrongful conviction was part of a pattern of abuse on the city's Northwest Side by former Chicago Police Officer Reynaldo Guevara, authorities said.

In Johnson's case, at least three people who identified him in the murder later said they did so only after Guevara or others working with him told them to, his attorneys said. The $21 million award was the largest ever for a wrongful conviction in Chicago, his attorneys said.

In Saturday’s murder, a car pulled up alongside the SUV on its passenger’s side and someone inside opened fire, striking Vasquez in the neck and head, according to the captain, who said rounds also went through the vehicle and hit 32-year-old Leticia Vega -- who was sitting next to Vasquez -- in the chest.

The SUV was being driven by Myra DeLeon and 37-year-old Timothy Russell was a passenger, Buslik said, adding that DeLeon was not shot and drove the SUV to Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center.

Authorities said Vega, who was seriously injured, was later transferred to another hospital for treatment.

Vasquez, of 2238 S. Kenilworth Ave. in Berwyn, was pronounced dead at Saint Elizabeth Medical Center at 7:27 a.m. Saturday, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

An autopsy Sunday determined Vasquez died of multiple gunshot wounds and his death was declared a homicide, according to the medical examiner’s office.

All the people inside the SUV had just returned from a social club when the shooting occurred and all are allegedly affiliated with the Spanish Cobra street gang, according to the captain, who said the slaying may have been a result of an ongoing feud between the Spanish Cobras and the Maniac Latin Disciples.

Police are seeking to speak to Johnson because his vehicle was involved in the incident, according to Buslik.

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The Houston Chronicle's website, chron.com is reporting:

 A federal jury on Thursday awarded $5 million to a Houston man who spent 17 years in prison for a kidnapping and rape he did not commit, finding the city should pay for its “deliberate indifference” to problems at the crime lab whose false evidence secured the conviction.

Ain’t no amount of money is going to even my scale,” Rodriguez said after hearing the verdict. “I lost my dad and my girls have been through hell. I am grateful, but no money could replace what I lost.” “This verdict says what I think we all know to be true about the Houston Police Department crime lab,” said Barry Scheck, one of Rodriguez’s lawyers and a co-founder of the Innocence Project, which helped secure his release from prison. “They convicted innocent men and the city was indifferent.”

City Attorney Arturo Michel, whose office defended the city, said officials would take a close look at the trial transcript to review questions of evidence and evaluate how the city would assess the case if it were retried before deciding whether to appeal. “The jury was deadlocked on the issue of whether Lee Brown was deliberately indifferent,” he said. “That meant that they had difficulty coming to a conclusion on the evidence.”

A jury of five women and three men deliberated for about two days after hearing testimony from former Mayor Lee P. Brown, who was police chief in 1987, James Bolding, a crime lab manager who testified at Rodriguez’s trial and from Rodriguez himself.

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The Houston Chronicle is reporting:

"A federal judge ordered jurors to resume deliberating today after the jury indicated Wednesday that it was at an impasse in the case of George Rodriguez, who sued the city of Houston for $35 million for its role in his wrongful conviction. A Houston Police Department crime lab analyst gave false testimony in Rodriguez’s 1987 trial, and Rodriguez was imprisoned for more than 17 years before DNA evidence exonerated him. The jury of five women and three men sent U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore a note Wednesday afternoon, after about six hours of deliberations. The panel said it is at an impasse on the question of whether, as police chief, Lee. P. Brown was deliberately indifferent to the lack of training and supervision in the crime lab and the chance a violation of someone’s constitutional right to a fair trial would result. To get to this point, the jury had to already find that the crime lab employee’s testimony played a substantial role in Rodriguez’s conviction and that the city had an official policy or custom of allowing the crime lab personnel to be inadequately trained and supervised. If the jury can agree that Brown was indifferent to the constitutional risks, it has two more questions to address. It has to decide if the problems with the lab were “the moving force” behind the violation of Rodriguez’s rights and, if so, how much the city should pay Rodriguez." 

Refreshing to see the jury take their time and work through each claim.  Sympathy for Mr. Rodriguez should not be the reason to tag the City of Houston for millions. Plaintiffs must be held to their burden. Stay tuned for jury verdict....

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In reporting on the recent jury verdict received by Juan Johnson, the media is reporting that Johnson was a member of the Spanish Cobras street gang and was accused of beating and killing a member of the rival Latin Eagles street gang. Attorney Jim Sotos, who represented Reynaldo Guevara, a retired Chicago gang specialist, noted that "There were two witnesses who specifically testified that they saw [Juan Johnson] commit this murder. And the two [witnesses] that changed their story did so at the behest of gang leaders." Indeed, it was gang members who recanted their prior testimony and changed their story to claim that Guevara coerced them into identifying Johnson in the murder. Yet, the jury was not allowed to hear any evidence about gangs at all and was not told that the murder involved a fight between two rival gangs and that Johnson was a member of one of the gangs involved in the street brawl. Nor was the defense allowed to introduce evidence that the gang members changed their story in order to get back at Guevara, who was a Chicago Police gang specialist.
 

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As previously reported, Juan Johnson, the man who recently was awarded $21 million in his civil rights lawsuit, was arrested last year as part of a drug sting on a Chicago street gang. Here' s a Chicago Tribune story about the bust. Tio Hardiman, director of mediation services at CeaseFire, where Johnson was allegedly working as a violence interrupter, is quoted saying "This comes as a total surprise." It probably comes as a total surprise to the jury in Johnson's case too, as they were not allowed to hear any evidence regarding Johnson's cocaine bust.  

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The jury in Juan Johnson's civil trial was not told that just last year Johnson, as part of a federal sweep of a Chicago street gang, was arrested and charged with being involved in the sale of crack cocaine. Johnson was set to plead guilty to that offense in March of this year but somehow managed to convince the United State's Attorney's Office to postpone his guilty plea until after his civil trial. Johnson obviously did not want the jury to hear evidence that was inconsistent with his claimed testimony of living his life on the straight and narrow. And why did the United State's Attorney's Office AGREE to the postponement?? Here is a copy of the motion Johnson filed requesting the continuance. Johnson managed to keep his crack cocaine offense from the jury, but at the same time managed to introduce evidence that Detective Guevara allegedly (according to who?) had a reputation for framing criminal suspects. Hardly seems fair . . .  

(Photo from LA Times Blog Post) 

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A federal jury in Chicago has awarded $21 million to Juan Johnson, who spent nearly 12 years in
prison for a murder he says he did not commit. Johnson was convicted with his brother of killing a man outside a Humboldt Park night club back in 1989 when Johnson was 19 years old. Johnson was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Johnson was able to convince the court to grant him a new trial and he was re-tried and acquitted in 2004. In his civil suit, Johnson claimed that Chicago detective Reynaldo Guevara framed him for the murder by convincing four witnesses to identify him. Johnson was represented by Jon Loevy from the law firm of Loevy & Loevy. Detective Guevara and the City of Chicago were represented by attorney Jim Sotos. THERE IS A LOT MORE TO THIS STORY . . . MORE TO FOLLOW 

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The Associated Press is reporting: that today the United States Supreme Court ruled, in a 5-4 vote, that convicts have no constitutional right to test DNA evidence in hopes of proving their innocence long after they were found guilty of a crime. The decision may have limited impact because the federal government and 47 states already have laws that allow convicts some access to genetic evidence. Testing has led to the exoneration of at least 232 people who had been found guilty of murder, rape and other violent crimes. The court ruled 5-4, with its conservative justices in the majority, against an Alaska man who was convicted in a brutal attack on a prostitute 16 years ago. William Osborne won a federal appeals-court ruling granting him access to a blue condom that was used during the attack. Mr. Osborne argued that testing its contents would firmly establish his innocence or guilt. Separately, in parole proceedings, Mr. Osborne has admitted his guilt in a bid for release from prison. The high court reversed the appellate ruling. States already are dealing with the challenges and opportunities presented by advances in genetic testing, Chief Justice John Roberts said in his majority opinion. "To suddenly constitutionalize this area would short-circuit what looks to be a prompt and considered legislative response," Mr. Roberts said.But Justice John Paul Stevens said in dissent that a simple test would settle the matter. "The court today blesses the state's arbitrary denial of the evidence Osborne seeks," Mr. Stevens said.

In the opinion, in concurrence, Judge Samuel Alito explained:

I see no reason for such intervention in the present case. When a criminal defendant, for tactical purposes, passes up the opportunity for DNA testing at trial, that defendant, in my judgment, has no constitutional right to demand to perform DNA testing after conviction. Recognition of such a right would allow defendants to play games with the criminal justice system. A guilty defendant could forgo DNA testing at trial for fear that the results would confirm his guilt, and in the hope that the other evidence would be insufficient to persuade the jury to find him guilty. Then, after conviction, with nothing to lose, the defendant could demand DNA testing in the hope that some happy accident—for example, degradation or con- tamination of the evidence—would provide the basis for seeking postconviction relief. Denying the opportunity for such an attempt to game the criminal justice system should not shock the conscience of the Court.

Further noting "There is ample evidence in this case that [Osborne] attemtped to game the system."

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The Houston Chronicle reports: 

George Rodriguez’s lawyer asked a federal jury Monday to make the city pay “tens of millions of dollars” for the disgraced Houston Police Department’s crime lab’s pivotal role in the wrongful conviction that put his client behind bars for 17 years.

“What was taken away from him was his youth,” said attorney , whose Innocence Project works on behalf of convicts in similar circumstances. Rodriguez went to prison wrongly at age 26 and walked out at 43 to find his three daughters grown and his father dead, the lawyer said.

In opening statements Tuesday afternoon, Scheck told jurors about the loneliness, fear and depression his client suffered in prison after being wrongly convicted of raping a 14-year-old girl.

This happened, he said, because policy makers at the city of Houston were deliberately indifferent to rampant under funding, under staffing and a lack of supervision at the crime lab that created a high risk an innocent person could be convicted or the guilty one could go free.

“We will prove that a false and misleading serology report violated (Rodriguez’s) constitutional right to a fair trial,” Scheck told jurors in U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore’s court. A key piece of evidence in the criminal case was a pubic hair found in the girl’s underwear. A Houston police crime lab specialist testified falsely that the serology report on that hair eliminated another suspect, Isidro Yanez, but not Rodriguez. The case was tried before DNA evidence was used in court. DNA tests done 17 years later showed the hair belonged to Yanez.
Brown, Holmes blamed Scheck said evidence will show the lab specialist had a pattern of changing findings to match what the police and prosecutors wanted.

One of the policy makers Scheck blames is Lee P. Brown, the former Houston mayor who was police chief in 1987 when Rodriguez was convicted. Brown is scheduled to testify in the case, as is former Harris District Attorney John B. Holmes Jr., who was top prosecutor at the time of the trial. Rodriguez originally sued Harris County and others but dismissed all parties except for the city of Houston, who his lawyers say is most clearly culpable.

But Robert Cambrice, a lawyer for the city, told jurors that it was bad lawyering by the prosecutor and Rodriguez’s late defense attorney that led to the false conviction, not an unquestioned lie by a city employee. He said there was no city policy that led to the error in this case and under funding didn’t cause the employee to lie. “No city policy makers approved of unconstitutional fabrication of evidence,” Cambrice said. Cambrice asked the jury not to be overcome by the emotion surrounding Rodriguez’s ordeal.

The trail is likely to last two weeks. The five-woman, three-man jury heard from an assistant police chief late Tuesday about how the city didn’t closely investigate crime lab problems until after a 2002 local television report. That finally led to a $5 million independent investigation that highlighted Rodriguez’s case and others, she said.

It wasn’t until 2004 that a local court ruled Rodriguez should be freed because of the inaccurate trial testimony. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals later vacated Rodriguez’s conviction. He has never received an official pardon and thus has received no compensation from the state.

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Click Here to Watch His Story:

According to news affiliate khou: 

A federal district judge has refused to dismiss a multi-million dollar civil lawsuit against the City of Houston, clearing the way for George Rodriguez’s claim that he was wrongfully imprisoned to go to trial Tuesday. His attorney, Mark Wawro, declined to comment except to say he is seeking compensation for what he has lost.

Court documents indicate that Rodriguez believes the city was complicit in his wrongful conviction by looking the other way as conditions in the city’s crime lab deteriorated over a period of several years.  The 11 News Defenders first exposed widespread problems with mishandled evidence, poor training and faulty test results five years ago. In 2004, a judge allowed Rodriguez to be released on bond after DNA testing cleared him in the kidnapping and rape of a 14-year-old girl in 1987.

Houston City Attorney Arturo Michel said the problems at the crime lab were not the source of the conviction. Instead, Michel points to the dishonest testimony of a crime lab supervisor. “I think what you have here is a person who was simply not honest,” Michel said. “It doesn’t matter how many funds you put into something and how good a program you have, you cannot guard against a person’s dishonesty.” “What we are going to show here is that you have someone who was lying on the stand and it was a tragic consequence,” he said.

On Wednesday, the Houston City Council will consider extending the contract with a private law firm that is representing the city in court. The City Attorney has already paid $50,000 to the law firm of Feldman & Rogers, and Wednesday’s vote would extend that to up to $200,000. Neither Michel nor Wawro would comment on exactly what financial relief Rodriguez is seeking in the case, but Michel said “they began with tens of millions of dollars that they would like the city to pay them in this process.”

Since then, Michel said, confidential discussions between the parties have been underway.  Rodriguez’s suit began with a wide range of defendants, including the City of Houston, Harris County and individuals involved in the case. The other defendants have either been dismissed from the case or have reached private settlements, Michel said.

11 News legal expert Gerald Treece says that Rodriguez’s legal claim his civil rights were violated is traditionally difficult to prove. “There has to be a conscious indifference by a policy or practice of the government,” he said. He added Rodriguez would have to prove city leaders knew the evidence that helped lead to the conviction was faulty and they “simply didn’t care." 

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Both Newsweek and The New York Daily News have reviewed Discovery Channel's new show on DNA and wrongful convictions. The show is about the Dallas County DA's and the newly elected DA Watkins. The office and its newly created CIU (Conviction Integrity Unit) investigates cases in which prisoners claim to have been wrongfully convicted.

In the first episode, one convict was freed after he was exonerated by DNA evidence. The other was confirmed gulilty through DNA evidence.

Newsweek says:

Dallas DNA" is compelling viewing, but not easy viewing. Like the best scripted crime dramas, it demonstrates that when it comes to crime and punishment, even the happiest endings are marbled with sadness and despair.

The New York Daily News said:

Dallas DNA" tells an important and sobering story about our justice system, and how one office is patching up a bad crack. As television, it's a curious paradox, at some points leaving big questions unasked and at other points padding footage that essentially marks time while we wait for a resolution. But by the standards of shows in this genre, "Dallas DNA" is the rare real deal."

 

The show recently had its season finale, but will be playing a marathon of all six episodes on 4pm to 10pm on Tuesday, June 23.

Dallas DNA is only the beginning. What happens after someone is "exonerated" ? Does that mean the police committed misconduct? Could it just be eyewitness error? Could the individual have been an accomplice and DNA was only left at the scene by another person?  These are all questions that must be asked.  YOU must ask them.  Do not let every "exoneration" become an automatic case of police misconduct.  

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According to news reports:  

A plainclothes Chicago police officer died this afternoon after being shot in the head and critically wounded early this morning in the West Englewood neighborhood on the South Side, authorities said.
Alejandro "Alex" Valadez, 27, died about 2:40 p.m., police Supt. Jody Weis said.

Valadez is the third officer killed in the line of duty in the past 12 months. Officer Nathaniel Taylor, 39, a 14-year veteran, was shot and killed in September while trying to execute a search warrant against a suspected narcotics dealer. Officer Richard Francis, 60, was fatally shot in July during a struggle with a woman causing a disruption on a bus.

Police sources said detectives were questioning at least one suspect Monday evening, but no charges had been filed. Weis said there was progress in the case but declined to be more specific.

Standing across the street from Stroger Hospital, Weis confirmed that Valadez had died. He said Valadez had been on life support and his family had donated his organs. Weis called Valadez, a "great officer'' who had distinguished himself in his three-year career.

"At the beginning of his career he distinguished himself on a team working on special missions," Weis said.

Weis said Valadez' killing will have a "devastating effect" on the officer's friends, family and co-workers and all Chicago residents.

"[It] should have a devastating effect upon all members and citizens of the City of Chicago," said Weis. "This type of violence can befall a Chicago police officer out doing his job sends a clear message about how dangerous it is in some of our communities."

Family members would not comment on the officer's death but Weis said that Valadez' brother, sister and fiancee are all police officers. He said while the family knew the risks that come with the job he said the family was, "devastated."

Valadez's brother is assigned to the Ogden District and a sister assigned to the evidence and recovered property section. The dead officer's girlfriend also is a police officer who works in the Englewood District, the source said.

Weis refused to comment on the investigation but said police have, "some people we are looking at."

"I'm very confident in the investigative leads that we have right now,'' said Weis.

Valadez's shooting occurred about 12:30 a.m. in the 6000 block of South Hermitage Avenue as the three-year veteran and his partner were investigating a report of shots fired, Weis said at a news conference earlier today after the shooting.

The shots were fired from a vehicle with more than one person in it, Weis said. He refused to provide a description of the vehicle which he said was being processed by police.

Sources said investigators found the vehicle believed to be used in the homicide blocks away with spent shell casings inside that appeared to come from a .40-caliber gun, believed to be used in the shooting.

Other police sources said investigators were "zeroing in" on suspects and hoped to announce arrests soon. Weis would only say: "There are some very good investigative leads right now."

Wentworth Area detectives are investigating the case, he said.

In addition to a head wound, Valadez was wounded in the leg, Weis said.

Valadez was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition and died there later.

The officer joined the Chicago Police Department in December 2005 and was most
recently assigned to the Englewood District, police said. Valadez earned a department commendation and 22 honorable mentions.

Investigators recovered shell casings at the scene. Several teams were stationed along Hermitage between 62nd and 60th Streets, including near the field at the southeast corner of Charles W. Earle Elementary School and in an alley in the 6000 block between Hermitage and Wood Street.

Valadez and his partner never let up on assignments and stayed hours after their midnight shift to finish the job, said Englewood Cmdr. Keith Calloway.

Calloway recalled seeing Valadez a few weeks ago at 10 a.m., three hours after his shift had ended, as he worked on paperwork to get a suspected carjacker charged. "These guys never really got tired," Calloway said.

"They'd run from hot car to hot car. Just hardworking and dedicated."

Valadez had an outgoing personality and was warm and well-liked, Calloway said.

As reporters converged on Valadez's neighborhood after his shooting, neighbors said they had heard about the tragedy.

Neighbor Julia Gonzalez, 39, said she had a sinking feeling when she saw the reporters and noticed the police car in front of the officer's home. She said the officer moved into the area about a year ago. She described him as friendly and a "good neighbor."

She said that he assisted her in getting aid to an injured rabbit she had on her property. She said the officer often worked on his home with his father, and she often saw him leave for work in the morning.

"I felt safe living next door because he is a police officer," said Gonzalez. "I pray for him."

At Stroger Hospital earlier today, about 30 people -- a mixture of friends and police officers -- gathered outside the emergency room.

Men embraced other men, crying and talking in Spanish. One woman, who identified herself as a friend, had a single tear streaming down her face. She and two others declined to talk. 

Our hearts and prayers go out to officer Valdez's family.   

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Dean Cage, a 42 year old man, was convicted in 1995 for the rape of a 15 year old girl on the South Side. Last year he was freed after DNA cleared him of the rape. He had spent 12 years in prison. Cage receieved a certificate of innocence from the state allowing him to not only seek retribution from the state under Illinois law, but also to file suit against the police officers that arrested him.

Cage seeks to hold police officers and the City of Chicago liable, despite very little evidence. Cage claims that he "looked nothing like" the composite drawing. He claimed that the police framed him just so that they could clear the crime.

However, the 15 year old girl picked Cage out of a police lineup after hearing his voice. Also, the police received a tip after releasing the sketch that lead them to Cage.

Jon Loevy, of Loevy & Loevy, represents Cage in the action.  Here is the complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.  

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The AP is reporting that DNA tests have confirmed that 37 year old Charles Duman did in fact rape a 4-year old girl. Dumas was convicted of the crime in 1998 via circumstantial evidence and maintained his innocence. The University of Cincinnati based Ohio Innocence Project took up his case and he received DNA testing. Both the prosecutor and victim's mother approved of the testing. However, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien filed documents on Tuesday that state that DNA evidence would not exonerate Dumas, and that he was properly convicted.

The Center has seen numerous cases like this, and they are becoming more frequent. See previous blog posts for more examples of DNA testing actually reaffirming the conviction of the man claiming innocence.

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