Chicago Police Officer Breaks His Silence
'I think God put me in a place to help people.''I think God put me in a place to help people.'A mass dismissal of murder convictions: In one day, Chicago judges overturn 7 murder cases overseen by reportedly corrupt cop
Prosecutors and judges at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago had a busy day on Tuesday. Seven murder convictions were overturned in a single day, the first case of mass murder dismissal in U.S. history.
The reason that prosecutors and judges were able to process so many requests for dismissal in so short a time is because the convicted in each case all had one thing in common: Former Chicago police detective Reynaldo Guevara was once in charge of the cases made against them.
Chicago district attorney Kim Foxx has admitted that her office "can no longer stand by these convictions" because of all of the accusations of police misconduct leveled at Guevara.
"Even in cases where we still have questions about guilt, where we are not affirming actual innocence, the taint of Detective Guevara is such that we cannot stand behind them any further," Foxx said.
As a result, six men and one woman who had previously been convicted of murder sometime between 1989 and 1996 and who had already served a combined total of 174 years in prison had their convictions overturned.
Marilyn Mulero, the lone woman among the exonerees, served 28 years in prison, five of them on death row, for the murder of Hector Reyes and Jimmy Cruz in 1992. She told reporters that she continued to fight for her innocence because of her two young children and because of others, like her, who languished in prison for crimes they say they didn't commit.
"There’s other women out there that are incarcerated, that are innocent, that I will keep fighting for, just like our other Guevara victims that are in there,” Mulero said.
Jaime Rios, the last person to have his sentence overturned on Tuesday, was convicted of shooting Luis Morales in 1989. Rios alleges that Guevara and others in law enforcement used violence, threats of violence, and psychological torment to convince Rios to give a false statement of self-incrimination.
Though Rios insisted that he was out of state on the day of the murder, he said Guevara promised him that if he claimed to be at the scene of the crime, he wouldn't lose custody of his son.
Rios was convicted and spent 18 years in prison.
In addition to Rios and Mulero, Carlos Andino, Alfredo Gonzalez, Nelson Gonzalez, Johnny Flores, and David Colon, aka David Lugo, all had their convictions overturned on Tuesday. A judge denied a request to dismiss the conviction of an eighth inmate, Louis Robinson, who "remains in custody pending further court proceedings," according to Foxx.
At least 70 inmates have claimed that Guevara engaged in police misconduct during his investigations against them. Thus far, 31 of their convictions have been overturned. Four more, including Robinson, will have their cases reassessed in the next few weeks.
As of now, Guevara has not been charged with any crime.
"Our first priority was ensuring that we could stand by these convictions. The next step of that: We’re going to review these cases, and also review the possibility for charges where appropriate," Foxx said.
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Chicago gang members released without charges after deadly shootout — in part because they were 'mutual combatants' who willingly fought each other
Chicago gang members involved in a deadly shooting Friday were released from custody without charges — one of them being first-degree murder — in part because the five arrestees were "mutual combatants" and willingly fought with each other, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
What are the details?
The paper — citing an internal police report and a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation — said the "brazen mid-morning gunfight" in the Austin neighborhood involved rival factions of the Four Corner Hustlers street gang.
The gun battle ended with one shooter dead and two suspects wounded, the Sun-Times said. It was "just like the Wild West," the source told the paper.
More from the Sun-Times:
About 10:30 a.m., two Dodge Chargers driven by members of the Body Snatchers faction of the Four Corner Hustlers drove to the 1200 block of North Mason Avenue and exchanged words with members of the gang's Jack Boys set, according to the source and the police report.
After circling the block and coming back, at least three individuals jumped out of the Chargers and began to shoot into a brick house using handguns equipped with "switches" that made the weapons fully automatic, noted the source and report. Members of the Jack Boys who were inside the home then began firing back.
Two of the Body Snatchers were left wounded, including an unidentified 32-year-old man who was later pronounced dead at a hospital, according to the report and the Cook County medical examiner's office. A 29-year-old man aligned with the Jack Boys was also struck.
While the source confirmed that more than 70 shell casings were found outside the home, that likely doesn't reflect the number of shots that were fired from inside.
The gunfight, which was caught on a police POD camera, came to a halt when a police cruiser pulled up to the block, according to the report and the source. The Body Snatchers then fled in the Chargers, leaving their fatally wounded accomplice behind.
No charges against 'mutual combatants'
The Sun-Times, citing the law enforcement source, said police wanted to charge all five suspects with murder and aggravated battery — but by Sunday morning a Chicago police spokeswoman said the suspects had "been released without charges."
Cristina Villareal, a Cook County state's attorney's office spokeswoman, said prosecutors "determined that the evidence was insufficient to meet our burden of proof to approve felony charges," the paper reported.
Villareal also said police officials agreed with the decision, the Sun-Times added.
However, the police report also said "mutual combatants was cited as the reason for the rejection" of charges, the paper noted, adding that mutual combat is a legal term used to designate a fight in which opponents willingly engage in.
Pushback from the mayor
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot pushed Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx to reverse her decision on the case, WLS-TV reported.
"If they do not feel like the criminal justice system is going to hold them accountable, we're going to see a level of brazenness that will send the city into chaos, and we cannot let that happen," Lightfoot said Monday, the station said.
The mayor — a former prosecutor — disagreed with Foxx's lack of evidence assessment, WLS noted.
"I think that there's evidence there," Lightfoot also said, according to the station. "We've got videotape, we have a marked squad of uniformed officers who were on the scene observing it. At a bare minimum, the individuals who initiated the firefight must be prosecuted."
Foxx's office responds
The Cook County State's Attorney's Office released the following statement in response to the mayor's comments, WLS said:
As a former federal prosecutor, the Mayor knows of the ethical obligation of the prosecutor to only bring forth charges where the facts, evidence, and law support it. She is also fully aware that as a prosecutor we are obligated not to try cases in the media. It is unclear why she has chosen to make such statements, especially absent the full information that was presented to our office by CPD. The detectives reached out to our office on Friday and acknowledged at the outset that given the chaotic nature at the scene they were unable to determine how the events unfolded. We reviewed the evidence that was presented to us in consultation with the detectives and they agreed we were unable to approve charges based on the evidence presented. However, as always, as additional evidence is gathered we stand ready to bring charges when appropriate. Additionally, the facts the mayor presented today simply are not in line with what was presented to us by CPD, and not born out by the evidence we received. The staggering violence that is devastating our communities is horrific, however, we must still adhere to both our ethical and legal standards in evaluating charges. As a former prosecutor, she knows that.
Anything else?
After the gun battle, one of the involved cars was "found engulfed in flames nearby," the paper said, citing the police report, and the other vehicle was used to drop off the non-fatal gunshot victim at West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park where police spotted it.
More from the Sun-Times:
During a brief chase, the 20-year-old driver crashed and he was taken into custody, according to the source and the report. An AK-47 assault rifle was found in the car, though police don't believe it was used in the shooting.
Both Chargers were likely stolen, according to the source, who said one car had a "dealer plate" and the other had no license plates at all.
Those affiliated with the Jack Boys, meanwhile, refused to leave the home on Mason, causing a standoff that required a SWAT team to respond, the source said.
Police looked to charge three Jack Boys who were eventually taken into custody, including the man who was shot, the source said. Investigators also sought charges against two members of the Body Snatchers — the driver who crashed the Charger and the 20-year-old man he took to West Suburban.
The paper said it isn't naming the suspects since they haven't been criminally charged.
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