Skip to content

Cook County State's Attorney vacates 7 murder convictions tied to ex-cop

The seven cases dismissed Tuesday involved slayings committed between 1989 and 1994. Five defendants already have completed prison sentences and are no longer in custody. Two others are expected to be released, while one remains in custody pending further court proceedings.

Associated Press
Associated Press
3 min read
Cook County State's Attorney vacates 7 murder convictions tied to ex-cop
The Cook County Criminal Courts Build at 2650 S California Avenue.

CHICAGO (AP) — The Cook County state’s attorney's office on Tuesday said judges have vacated seven murder convictions connected to a retired Chicago police detective accused of framing others who were sent to prison.

An eighth cases remains, pending further court proceedings.

State's Attorney Kim Foxx told reporters that her office no longer will oppose post-conviction litigation in the eight cases following a 2019 review of cases related to allegations of police misconduct involving Reynaldo Guevara.

“We no longer believe in the validity of these convictions or the credibility of the evidence of these convictions,” Foxx said.

The seven cases dismissed Tuesday involved slayings committed between 1989 and 1994.

Five defendants already have completed prison sentences and are no longer in custody. Two others are expected to be released, while one remains in custody pending further court proceedings.

Two dozen cases already have been vacated and action on three additional cases is expected in the coming weeks.

Guevara — a former member of a police department dogged by decades of scandal, cover-ups, and brutality — has never been charged with a crime. Foxx said her office is reviewing possible charges against Guevara, who retired in 2005 and is receiving a city police pension and a Chicago Park District pension.

He helped inmates win freedom by repeatedly invoking his constitutional right against self-incrimination or insisting that he couldn’t remember facts, thus forcing prosecutors to dismiss charges in several cases.

In one case, after he was granted immunity by prosecutors, he answered repeatedly that he didn’t remember confessions that he elicited from two men ultimately convicted of murder. The judge characterized his comments as “bald-faced lies” and threw out the confessions.

“Could we try these cases again today without the work of Detective Guevara?” Foxx said Tuesday. “Based on our review, we are not able to retry these cases.”

She added that additional investigations could be conducted “to see if, in fact, someone else committed these crimes.”

Last September, Chicago’s City Council agreed to pay $20.5 million to two of at least a dozen men whose murder convictions were dismissed after allegedly being framed by Guevara.

The lawsuits were filed on behalf of Armando Serrano and Jose Montanez who spent 23 years in prison before they were released in 2016. A key witness in their case admitted that he had lied about hearing them confess because Guevara had threatened to beat him if he didn’t.

In 2009, a jury awarded $21 million to a man who spent 11 years in prison before he was retried and acquitted because witnesses testified that Guevara intimidated them into falsely identifying the man as the killer. The city later agreed to pay $16.4 million.

Another jury awarded $17 million in 2018 to a man who made similar allegations.

Foxx said Tuesday that she would not discount the impact each case had on the defendants and their families.

“While we focused on the allegations of misconduct, we did not want to lose sight that lives were lost and the impact that our decision could have on the families of victims who believed that justice had been served by these convictions,” she added. “We looked at these cases with a careful lens to ensure that we got it right.”


Subscribe to the Chicago Journal


The Chicago Journal needs your support.

At just $12/year, your subscription not only helps us grow, it helps maintain our commitment to independent publishing.

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE


Subscribe to the Chicago Journal

LawChicago NewsNews

Associated Press Twitter

News and content from The Associated Press, which has been covering the world's most important stories since 1846.


Related

Supreme Court upholds cash-free bail in Illinois, takes effect in September

Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis ordered that the halt on the law be lifted 60 days after Tuesday's opinion, on Sept. 18, 2023.

Supreme Court upholds cash-free bail in Illinois, takes effect in September

Mississippi River crests at Davenport, testing barriers

The peak was slightly lower than forecast but still high enough to test the region's flood defenses and to keep officials on guard. Many larger cities have flood walls but Davenport relies on temporary sand-filled barriers and allows the river to flood in riverfront parks.

Mississippi River crests at Davenport, testing barriers

`Multiple fatalities' on Illinois highway following crashes

The crashes occurred late in the morning and involved 40 to 60 passenger cars and multiple tractor-trailers, two of which caught fire, Illinois State Police Maj. Ryan Starrick said.

`Multiple fatalities' on Illinois highway following crashes