Chicago, IL – Jacques Rivera has been released after 21 years in prison, after being exonerated for a murder he did not commit. On Oct. 4 he spoke to the press waiting outside the jail. Surrounded by his family, lawyers and members of the activist group Comite Exigimos Justicia (CEJ) which worked tirelessly for justice in this case he said, “The city of Chicago needs to know the truth and that is that I did not kill Felix Valentin.”

Rivera’s case was particularly shocking because the prosecution’s 1988 case hinged solely on a 12-year old eyewitness. The issue of the obvious unreliability of eyewitness identifications in a police lineup – especially by children – was reported on widely in the Chicago coverage of this case. But what Jacques Rivera means when he says that “it didn’t have to go like that” is the fact that his case was handled by Detective Reynaldo Guevara of the Gang Crimes Unit of Area 5.

Fight Back! has reported for years on the rampant corruption in Chicago’s police department, especially in the Puerto Rican neighborhood of Area 5. A community campaign for justice developed in the late 1990s with over 40 wrongful conviction murder cases. These cases stemmed from a group of crooked cops, often with Detective Reynaldo Guevara at the head of the team. This was the same gang crimes unit where Detective Joseph Miedzianowski got sentenced to life in jail for running such a large and open drug organization that the Chicago Tribune titled him “Chicago’s most corrupt cop.”

The Comite Exigimos Justicia members demanded that all cases that these officers signed off on be made public and re-investigated when indicated. For example, the eyewitness in Rivera’s case said that one week after the mistaken line up he had tried to tell the detectives the truth but they ignored him.

Jacques Rivera, 46 years old, is now home with his family trying to adjust to a very different Chicago than in 1988 when he was last out. He seems still in disbelief that the 80-year sentence for a crime he did not commit is finally behind him. His children have grown up almost their entire lives seeing their father in 2 hour prison visits. This past weekend he sat on the brick bungalow front stoop looking at the scrapbook with flyers and photos of CEJ events held over the years. He recognizes the names of some of the other Area 5 frame up cases, like Mario Flores, freed from death row a few years ago; Angel Rodriguez, freed in 2004 in what had originally been a 70-year sentence and Juan Johnson, freed in 2010. Johnson received the largest settlement in the history of Chicago: $21 million. In addition, the Johnson case was able to force Detective Guevara to testify in court and pay penalties.

Members of CEJ often spoke about Area 5 detectives pinning false charges on opposing gang members in order to protect their own contacts in the streets or to appear to have quickly closed a case. Rivera’s mother Gwen Rivera was an active member of CEJ and believed all along that her son was innocent and had been framed. This Humboldt Park committee of mostly Puerto Rican and Mexican women protested regularly at Area 5 station, city hall, the state attorney’s office, the Justice Department and monthly Chicago Police Board meetings fighting to free their loved ones.

These CEJ women were some of the strongest voices to raise the issues of the CPD’s racist attacks in the Latino Northwest side neighborhood and link it to the CPD’s policies that were terrorizing and falsely jailing people in the West and South Side Black community. That activism and research connecting the common patterns in the frame ups led to Northwestern Law School Center for Wrongful Convictions to take up Rivera’s case.

These kinds of victories open the way for other Guevara frame-up cases like Nelson Gonzalez, Johnny Flores, Armando Serrano and Roberto Almadovar. These men are still locked up while they and their families suffer. Charlie and Esther Hernandez stood outside the jail gate to welcome Rivera. They held a photo of their son in prison. They said, “This hurts everyone because the community continues to pay to jail the innocent.”

Jacques Rivera mentions his upcoming civil suit and plans he has to help others. He says he would be very happy to attend this year’s People’s Thanksgiving dinner and Fight Back! newspaper award event in Chicago on Dec. 3. At this event, guests write personal notes in holiday cards to send to political prisoners and the wrongfully convicted. He looks forward to getting to meet more of the people of CEJ, who he now calls part of his “dream team” as well as learn about other justice issues. Although this is only the 19th year of the Thanksgiving event, Rivera’s freedom is an inspiring victory over 21 years in the making.

#ChicagoIL #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #JuanJohnson #Area5 #JacquesRivera #MarioFlores #AngelRodriguez #DetectiveReynaldoGuevara #GangCrimesUnit

Chicago, IL – Activists in Chicago, led by Comite Exigimos Justicia (CEJ, or the We Demand Justice Committee), marched on Area 5 Police Headquarters on Aug. 16 to demand a meeting with Deputy Chief Dayna Sparks. CEJ has documented frame-ups by Area 5 detectives resulting in the wrongful convictions of dozens of Latino men. Speakers at the protest included recently pardoned death row inmate Aaron Patterson and community activist Fred Hampton, Jr. (photo above) Deputy Chief Sparks was not present and later refused to acknowledge receiving letter addressed to her, even though 50 copies were distributed to her representatives. “We’ll keep coming back until they listen,” Angel Rodriguez from CEJ told the crowd. “Together, we can stop police corruption and make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else!”

#ChicagoIL #News #AfricanAmerican #ChicanoLatino #PoliceBrutality #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #Area5 #ComiteExigimosJusticia

Chicago, IL – In 1997 Angel Rodriguez was framed for murder by Chicago Area 5 Detectives Jon Woodall and Ernest Halvorsen. He was convicted and sentenced to over 60 years in prison. After almost four years in prison for a crime that he did not commit, Rodriguez’s conviction was reversed on appeal in March of 2000 because of lack of reliable evidence.

Rodriguez was released from prison due to the fact that the eyewitness who had originally identified Angel as the murderer recanted his story. The witness gave a sworn affidavit stating that Area 5 Detectives Woodall and Halverson had pressured him into identifying Angel. The eyewitness stated that Woodall and Halverson threatened to implicate him in the murder unless he pointed the finger at Angel.

Detective Jon Woodall is now in prison on a ten-year sentence after being convicted over a year ago of framing a different individual. Woodall was convicted of stealing cocaine, planting it on an innocent man and then falsely arresting him.

Even though Angel Rodriguez now is a free man, no one has ever been held accountable for the damage this frame-up inflicted upon him and his family. Detectives Woodall and Halverson have never been punished for framing Angel Rodriguez. Rodriguez filed a lawsuit against Detectives Woodall and Halverson and the City of Chicago for compensation for the years he has lost and the damage to his life. U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kennelly has denied Woodall and Halvorsen’s motions to dismiss the case and has ordered the trial start Apr. 11.

At a press conference announcing Rodriguez’s trial, activists from Comite Exigimos Justicia (CEJ, the We Demand Justice Committee) and supporters spoke out about the injustice that Angel and the countless other wrongfully convicted Latino and Black men face. Activists highlighted an unacceptable flaw in the Illinois criminal justice system – the fact that although Rodriguez was exonerated of the murder conviction in 2000, the conviction still remains on his record, making it hard for him to find a job. In order to clear his record, Rodriguez filed a petition for clemency 18 months ago. Illinois Governor Blagojevich has yet to grant the pardon to clear Rodriguez’s name. Activists point to other instances where wrongfully convicted men wait for pardons by Governor Blagojevich. Two examples are the separate cases of Walter Godinez and Juan Johnson, wrongfully convicted of murder by Chicago Area 5 detectives, and later exonerated in court and released from prison. Yet both men also still have murder convictions on their records.

Omar Saunders, one of the wrongfully convicted, and the exonerated Rosetti Four, spoke at the press conference in support of Angel, “Angel Rodriguez should have been pardoned the minute he was exonerated.” This sentiment was echoed by Angel’s sister, Ruth Peña, co-founder of CEJ, “It’s ridiculous that people cleared of their crimes still have to deal with the stigma of a murder conviction. Once you are cleared the legal system should be set up to automatically expunge your record. Woodall and Halvorsen are still framing my brother!” CEJ activists point out that, to date, Governor Blagojevich has only pardoned individuals in cases where DNA evidence has been used to clear them. The governor has yet to rule on the clemency petitions filed by countless individuals who were sent to prison based on no physical evidence who have since been exonerated in court. Angel’s lawyer, Scott Kamin, stated the problem quite clearly: “There is a bias against the Latino community in terms of pardons from the governor.” CEJ member Rose Sifuentes explained, “Even proof of innocence does not reintegrate the wrongfully convicted into society.” She added, in regards to Angel’s upcoming trial, “and the innocent deserve to be compensated for the loss of the life they once had.”

CEJ has documented over 50 cases of frame-ups by Chicago police officers working out of Area 5. All of the cases resulted in convictions of Latino men based on eyewitness testimony alone. No physical evidence was ever presented to link these men to the crimes. The vast majority of these cases involve the same Area 5 Detectives: Woodall, Paulnitsky, Halvorsen, Wojik and, the most often named, Detective Reynaldo Guevara. Area 5 is also the home of Detective Joseph Miedzianowski, Chicago’s ‘most corrupt cop,’ who was found guilty of drug conspiracy and racketeering in spring of 2001.

The Comite Exigimos Justicia is asking for any supporters available the week of April 11-15 to attend Angel Rodriguez’s trial at the Dirksen Federal Building, 219 S Dearborn, Room 2103. Please email Comite Exigimos Justicia at CEJchicago@att.net for more information.

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