Speaker 1: Welcome to a very special episode of Wrongful Conviction, in
Speaker 1: which we're trying something new. I've asked a previous guest
Speaker 1: to take on my usual role as interviewer. You might
Speaker 1: remember Patrick Pursley from his own episode of Wrongful Conviction.
Speaker 1: Patrick did what seemed to be the impossible to win
Speaker 1: his freedom. He got a law changed from inside prison
Speaker 1: to allow for the post conviction ballistics testing that proved
Speaker 1: his innocence. Just an amazing feat accomplished by a truly
Speaker 1: amazing guy. And now he brings us an interview with
Speaker 1: another innocent man who he knew while inside Illinois Stateville Penitentiary,
Speaker 1: Jacques Rivera. On August seven, a sixteen year old name
Speaker 1: Felix valent Team was shot in his car on the
Speaker 1: West Side of Chicago. At the hospital, responding officers spoke
Speaker 1: with them identify the shooter and getaway drivers members of
Speaker 1: the Imperial Gangsters. However, a corrupt detective name Renando Gavera
Speaker 1: instead targeted Jacques Rivera, a member of a different gang,
Speaker 1: the Latin Kings Joes, ran the local recreation center that
Speaker 1: Govera often targeted for information. Despite the victim's dying declaration
Speaker 1: to responding officers, Govera claimed to have gotten a different
Speaker 1: identification during the eighteen days before the victim's death. Guvera
Speaker 1: then misled in eleven year old eye witness to collaborate
Speaker 1: that bogus identification, charging Jocks with the murder. Jockes was
Speaker 1: tried under Judge Michael Close, who had recently been the
Speaker 1: focus of Operation Gray Lord, one of the biggest judicial
Speaker 1: corruption investigations in the United States history. The judge would
Speaker 1: allow the testimony of the victim's original identification, and with
Speaker 1: the false testimonies of Carvera and the misled child witness,
Speaker 1: Judge Close convicted and sends Jacques Rivera to eighty years.
Speaker 1: When the Center on Wrang for Convictions took on Jack's case,
Speaker 1: they found the eyewitness, now an adult, who greeted them
Speaker 1: with relief, saying that he had been waiting to tell
Speaker 1: the truth for the last twenty three years since an
Speaker 1: investigation intok Cavera's corruption has resulted in the exoneration of
Speaker 1: over twenty innocent men and women, costing Chicago over fifty
Speaker 1: million dollars in counting. This is raw for of conviction.
Speaker 1: Welcome to wrong for conviction. This is Patrick Persley, also
Speaker 1: known as Free Patrick Pursley. I was previously a guest
Speaker 1: on rang for Conviction, but today I'm honored the feeling
Speaker 1: for Jason Flam and we have a very special guest
Speaker 1: with us, a friend of mine, someone I knew a
Speaker 1: long time while in Stay Fields over my own wrong
Speaker 1: for conviction, Mr jackes Rivera. How are you, sir, Oh Patrick,
Speaker 1: I'm good man, I am really good. So one, thank
Speaker 1: you for having to trust to me to tell your
Speaker 1: story on behalf of Chase of Flom. I know it's
Speaker 1: hard telling our stories, putting our pain out there on
Speaker 1: the line. Could you explain to the audience a little
Speaker 1: bit about yourself and just our connection, our connection unfortunately
Speaker 1: being in prison together. You know, you was a great dude.
Speaker 1: Unfortunately for us, we were roughly convicted, so that doesn't
Speaker 1: change our character who we were before we went in there.
Speaker 1: We didn't let it change who we were. No, we didn't,
Speaker 1: and I appreciate that. Jax, your cases, well, you know,
Speaker 1: you kind of hit the double reverse jackpot here. You
Speaker 1: have one of the most corrupt detectives in Chicago history,
Speaker 1: which is saying a lot, and his name is Detective
Speaker 1: Ronaldo Cavert. Real infamous guy. It's responsible for so many
Speaker 1: wrong for convictions over twenty account and it's called the
Speaker 1: City of Chicago fifty million dollars. And I can just
Speaker 1: tell you, as a jail house lawyer from Stateville, you
Speaker 1: know my twenty three years doing cases down there, his
Speaker 1: name came up again and again and there was definitely
Speaker 1: a pattern present throughout. And then on top of that,
Speaker 1: you've got a judge who was a person interested investigation
Speaker 1: judicial corruption in the eighties called Operation Gray Lord. The
Speaker 1: investigation was meant to root out pay for play scattle
Speaker 1: on which judges were accepting bribes where basically they were
Speaker 1: fixing everything from parking tickets to murders. Uh. The judge
Speaker 1: in your case, Michael Close, was alleged had taken twenty
Speaker 1: five tho dollars to fix a murder case find one
Speaker 1: defendant not guilty and the other definitive guilty. I believe
Speaker 1: while Judge Michael Close was never criminally prosecuted, he was
Speaker 1: pursued in civil suits and the Cook County States Attorney's
Speaker 1: Office they represented him, and basically their position was that
Speaker 1: he was immune from civil litigation during the commission of
Speaker 1: his judicial duties. So therefore he was immune from civil
Speaker 1: liability according to the law. So I think that says
Speaker 1: a lot of about this case and where we're headed.
Speaker 1: And we haven't even started yet. But Jocks, let's talk
Speaker 1: about your life. What was your life like growing up
Speaker 1: in the city of Chicago during this time. Yeah, growing
Speaker 1: up on the northwest side of Chicago, the Humble Park area,
Speaker 1: varying late seventies, all of the eighties, you know, really
Speaker 1: gang infested, high crime, and you had like four main gangs.
Speaker 1: There were the Imperial Gangsters, the same Spanish Cobras, the
Speaker 1: main Atlant Disciples, and the Lant Kings. My dad had
Speaker 1: passed away when I was fifteen, and I had five
Speaker 1: other siblings that my mom had to take care of,
Speaker 1: and you know, I was just roaming the streets. I
Speaker 1: was really distraught about my dad passing, and I did
Speaker 1: you know, he was kind of my rock, my guide,
Speaker 1: and um, you know, didn't really have much of a
Speaker 1: choice but to join the gang. At that point. They
Speaker 1: offered protection, and without the protection, you'll be a target
Speaker 1: in the area, and we couldn't move out that area.
Speaker 1: So it wasn't like I wanted to do that or
Speaker 1: go down that path. I just had an all the choice.
Speaker 1: I was a member of the land Kings. So in
Speaker 1: Humble Park they had a festival yearly. It was called
Speaker 1: the Fiestas, the celebration of the Latino culture, and there
Speaker 1: would be times where the gang violence was real bad
Speaker 1: in this festival time. So what the city decided to do,
Speaker 1: along with the Puerto Rican Institute, was to pay game
Speaker 1: members to govern their own you know, to stop the violence.
Speaker 1: So the gentleman from the Spanish coalition suggested that we
Speaker 1: use this money to open up a community center, which
Speaker 1: was a great thing and just for people not familiar
Speaker 1: with Chicago, this was quite commonplace where the city paid
Speaker 1: the gangs to keep their guys in line. This was
Speaker 1: even done in prisons called in maintenant control program. So
Speaker 1: this community center gets going over the years, gets a
Speaker 1: couple of name changes, and I believe it's been named
Speaker 1: the Humble Park Institute, that's correct. Yeah, that's when I
Speaker 1: really got involved in it, and it was doing so
Speaker 1: well that the city they wanted to give us more
Speaker 1: money to open up a recreational center. They did, and
Speaker 1: we opened it up and that was running. It was
Speaker 1: called Mind and Body. We have weights in their foosball,
Speaker 1: table air hockey games for the kids for after school programs,
Speaker 1: and people came in there a lot adults and kids,
Speaker 1: so it was considered like a safe place for a family.
Speaker 1: Even though it's like in this so called gang infrastructure.
Speaker 1: There was some good elements that came out of it.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, definitely was. And that's why I think the
Speaker 1: troubles began. The detective Ronaldo Gavera, he used to come
Speaker 1: in there from time to time looking for people. I
Speaker 1: was like, you know, we have nothing to hide here.
Speaker 1: It seemed like at first that he was just interested
Speaker 1: in how this program came about, who was involved in it.
Speaker 1: You know, who's in charges running? And I said, I am,
Speaker 1: and we're a part of the Humble Park Institute. And
Speaker 1: he used that as a means to come in there
Speaker 1: to look for people that he was looking for from
Speaker 1: the streets of game members, whether it was to arrest
Speaker 1: them or just to talk to them or whatever it
Speaker 1: may be. So now this brings us to the end
Speaker 1: of Summer nine and the murder you got caught up in.
Speaker 1: It was a gang related murder, and I remember you
Speaker 1: tell me it took someone actually come into Stateville laying
Speaker 1: it all out for you to actually know what was
Speaker 1: going on behind the scenes, what this actual beef was about.
Speaker 1: You mentioned like multiple gangs operating this area. I believe
Speaker 1: it was Latin King's Many at Latin Disciples, the Imperial
Speaker 1: Gangsters in Saint Spanish Cobras. What was going on at
Speaker 1: that time bold with the heavy hitters, if I can
Speaker 1: say that, And then you had these little block gags
Speaker 1: and the two of them were in St. Campbell Boys
Speaker 1: and mainly at Campbell Boys, And from what I understand
Speaker 1: was they were approached by the Spanish Cobras and the
Speaker 1: Imperial gangsters and they were telling them, you can either
Speaker 1: join us or we're gonna shut you down. Stimulation. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so I believe the Insane Campbel Boys went went the
Speaker 1: insane Spanish Cobras I s C. And Many had Campbell Boys.
Speaker 1: They said, we were gonna become Mania At Latin Disciples
Speaker 1: sold the Mania at Camel Boys. Now we're at war
Speaker 1: with the Imperial gangsters about their decision about not riding
Speaker 1: with them but going with the Many at Latin Disciples.
Speaker 1: And from what I understand, the victim in this case
Speaker 1: we're talking about today, sixteen year old Felix Valentine. He
Speaker 1: and his brother were many at Campbell boys who were
Speaker 1: assimilated or basically had flipped into the Many At Latin disciples, who,
Speaker 1: like you said, they were now at war with the
Speaker 1: Imperial Gangsters over that fact. And that takes us to
Speaker 1: the day of the shooting August twenty seven, where Felix
Speaker 1: Latine got shot was Imperial Gangsters neighborhood. He was over
Speaker 1: there with his brother. They were going to a wedding,
Speaker 1: and his brother went up the stairs and he waited
Speaker 1: in the car, you know, like saying, hurry up, get up,
Speaker 1: to get out, because you know where you're supposed to
Speaker 1: be in this area. So according to the police report
Speaker 1: in night witness report, a car drove up, pulled right
Speaker 1: behind Felix while he sat in the mouth of the alley.
Speaker 1: Thea astenger got out the car walked up to Felix,
Speaker 1: and then this person opened fired on him. His brother
Speaker 1: heard the shots, came downstairs, ran to the car, saw
Speaker 1: his brother limped over, and he opened the car door,
Speaker 1: pushed his brother Felix over to the passenger side, and
Speaker 1: took off to the hospital. There was a Chicago police
Speaker 1: officer that came on the scene he went to the
Speaker 1: hospital talked to the victim, so this would be Officer
Speaker 1: Craig let Ridge, he was responding officer. He also talked
Speaker 1: to people at the crime scene. So the next day
Speaker 1: Felix Valient team stabilizes Officer lect Ridge went to the
Speaker 1: hospital and Felix told let Ridge and his partner that
Speaker 1: was the Imperial Gangsters who had shot him, right, yes, sir,
Speaker 1: And he left the hospital, went back to the police
Speaker 1: station and came back with an Imperial Gangster mug bug
Speaker 1: and low and behold, Felix Valentine identifies Jose Rodriguez and
Speaker 1: Philip Nevis. And he didn't just identify them, he stipulated
Speaker 1: the participation that each of and he said that Jose
Speaker 1: Rodriguez shot him and Philip Nevis was driving the car.
Speaker 1: So this sho has been like an open and shut case.
Speaker 1: But that's that's not how this goes down. So even
Speaker 1: though Felix founcing the victim in this case tells Officer
Speaker 1: Electric to respond to officers whose attackers were detected, Rivera
Speaker 1: led the investigation a whole another direction. Now there's also
Speaker 1: a witness, eleven year old boy from the Imperial Gangsters
Speaker 1: neighborhood named Orlando Lopez, whose sister also happened to be
Speaker 1: dating Felix's brother, and allegedly witnessed the shooting, and he
Speaker 1: allegedly said, because we're not even sure what he what
Speaker 1: he actually said is might have been fed to him
Speaker 1: by Rivera. But he allegedly says he was standing at
Speaker 1: an indentation in the alley and saw the shooter from
Speaker 1: the back and described the shooter as about five tin
Speaker 1: dressed in black and gold. Now those are Latin King colors,
Speaker 1: not Imperial gangster colors. What else was alleged? He said
Speaker 1: that the car turned southbound on Spall Thing, which is
Speaker 1: in the direction of the Latin Kings, and was for
Speaker 1: certain that the shooter's hair in the back he had
Speaker 1: a ponytail, and it was dyed like a blond gold color.
Speaker 1: And Gevera starts looking for Mark's depending on in Latin
Speaker 1: King's territory or maybe even had you in mind. So
Speaker 1: how how did you do it? How did you get
Speaker 1: caught up in this? Gevara came into the neighborhood. I
Speaker 1: was out there with the guys. He drove up on
Speaker 1: us and he said, I need to talk to you.
Speaker 1: What they used to do was use people as fillers
Speaker 1: in lineups, and I stood in a few lineups before.
Speaker 1: They just said, you know, don't worry abody. We know
Speaker 1: you didn't do it. We just need fillers. So and
Speaker 1: Gevara drove up and he said, you know, we won't
Speaker 1: know if you're standing in the lineup, and I just
Speaker 1: knew it was funny because it's like seven to ten
Speaker 1: guys there, and you picked me out of everybody. Did
Speaker 1: you fit the description? No, not at all. I mean
Speaker 1: my hair was long in the back and never wore
Speaker 1: it in the ponytail, pigtail, none of that, or had
Speaker 1: it dyed that color or any color for that matter.
Speaker 1: So your very approaches you and you feel kind of
Speaker 1: strange about this lineup being a filler, but you did
Speaker 1: it before, So what's going through your mind? Is this
Speaker 1: is happening? And what happened? I said something was wrong?
Speaker 1: And when I hesitated, he opened up his coat and
Speaker 1: moved his coat from around his revolver as to say,
Speaker 1: you could come peacefully or you could come fortually. I said,
Speaker 1: I know they do nothing wrong, So I went with him.
Speaker 1: I was held in the police station for that day
Speaker 1: and the whole next day, and then on the third
Speaker 1: day they put me in a lineup with Imperial Gangsters.
Speaker 1: Why would you put me in the lineup with Imperial gangsters?
Speaker 1: He was the Late Kings. You did it right, That's crazy.
Speaker 1: And for Lando Lopez is from the Imperial Gangsters territory,
Speaker 1: he probably knows all those guys. It looks a little
Speaker 1: bit like they might have been trying to lead the
Speaker 1: witness to pick someone that they didn't know. So were
Speaker 1: you identified at that time? No, I was not identified.
Speaker 1: They let me go. So that was your first line
Speaker 1: up with this case, and they let you go. A
Speaker 1: little time passes, so you probably think the whole thing
Speaker 1: is behind you is blown over. But then at this time,
Speaker 1: if we could kind of see like a split screen
Speaker 1: behind the scenes, you live in your life and these
Speaker 1: two other things are going on. First, Felix Mounteam's health
Speaker 1: is rapidly going down. He now slips into a coma
Speaker 1: and eventually dies eighteen days after the shooting on September fourteenth. Meanwhile, Carvera,
Speaker 1: he's working in this Orlando Lopez kid. It's believed that
Speaker 1: Carvera told Lopez that he had visited Felix in the
Speaker 1: hospital and Felix identified you. So then he starts pulling
Speaker 1: Orlando's heart string and say, this is your sister's boyfriend's
Speaker 1: little brother that could have easily been you. So Carvera
Speaker 1: relates to Orlando. You know, the victim told him it
Speaker 1: was Jacques. Rivera basically puts it on this kid, like
Speaker 1: what would you want someone to do for you in
Speaker 1: this particular situation. So now Carvera, he rolls up on
Speaker 1: you again exactly. So, I was at the Humble Park
Speaker 1: Institute and here the screeching of a car and it's
Speaker 1: Cavera and it's partner Harveston, and he said, hey, hey,
Speaker 1: came here, and I went up to them. I put
Speaker 1: my hands up right away. He cut me up and
Speaker 1: he says, what car are you driving? I said, a
Speaker 1: white Apolo? So why Gavera went to such my car?
Speaker 1: I'm asking his partner said that what's going on? Man?
Speaker 1: Jall picked me up about two weeks ago. You asked
Speaker 1: me to stand in the line, and by standing in
Speaker 1: the line and I'm let going. He says, I don't know.
Speaker 1: This is the Varia's case. So de Vera came back.
Speaker 1: He sat me in the squad car and started proceeding
Speaker 1: to Area five police station, and I just kept handling,
Speaker 1: and I was like, man, what's going on. They didn't
Speaker 1: buckle me in the back seat, so he stopped the
Speaker 1: car real quick, and as I flew forward, he grabbed
Speaker 1: me by my shirt and he says, you're being trying
Speaker 1: to murder, motherfucker. And he pushed me back and he said,
Speaker 1: now shut the funk up. This episode is underwritten by
Speaker 1: A i G, a leading global insurance company. A i
Speaker 1: G is committed to corporate social responsibility and is making
Speaker 1: a positive difference in the lives of its employees and
Speaker 1: in the communities where we work and live. In light
Speaker 1: of the compelling need for pro bono legal assistance, and
Speaker 1: in recognition of A i g s commitment to criminal
Speaker 1: and social justice reform, the A i G pro Bono
Speaker 1: Program provides free legal services and other support to underrepresented
Speaker 1: communities and individuals. And we get to the police station.
Speaker 1: They put me in the lineup with Latin Kings and
Speaker 1: this was the second line up. So I said, this time,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna stand dead center to make sure what were
Speaker 1: this witnesses, so you can see me to know that
Speaker 1: this is not me. Another detective came in and he
Speaker 1: made the noise like a gang show thing b b
Speaker 1: b bing bing. He said, we got a winner. They
Speaker 1: identified you as a shooter. They removed the other gentleman
Speaker 1: that was in the lineup, and they said, did you
Speaker 1: want to talk about this? I said, there's nothing to
Speaker 1: talk about, man, I said, I don't even know what's
Speaker 1: going on. What do you want me to say? And
Speaker 1: then Vera came up to me. He goes, you know,
Speaker 1: you can make this easier on yourself. Tell us who
Speaker 1: the shooter was, and we're gonna put you down for
Speaker 1: the driver and we're gonna help you out. I first
Speaker 1: thought to myself, not only do you want me to
Speaker 1: implicate myself it's something that I didn't do, but you
Speaker 1: want me to implicate somebody else? There was someone else
Speaker 1: under the bus too. Yeah, And I told him you
Speaker 1: got to be crazy, man, I'm not gonna confess to
Speaker 1: somebody didn't do or inplcate nobody else. He's like, WHOA,
Speaker 1: that's okay. You don't have to tell us something anyways,
Speaker 1: because you're going down for this. And I was like, well,
Speaker 1: let the procedures begin. So during Kiki jail. I know
Speaker 1: the experience as far as getting locked up, everything that's
Speaker 1: the fan, So can you describe that? Honestly, it was
Speaker 1: just a horrific time. Man. I had no contact with
Speaker 1: my family. My wife was there when he picked me
Speaker 1: up the second time, so she vested gout a lawyer
Speaker 1: that was a family lawyer to a friend of hers. Now,
Speaker 1: leading up to the actual trial, did you take a
Speaker 1: jury or bench trial? I asked to feel my friends
Speaker 1: and they're like, well, I of they have twelve people
Speaker 1: to sign. My faith stood of one person. Man, I
Speaker 1: would take a journey. I would take a jury. I
Speaker 1: would take a jury. So going back to court, my
Speaker 1: lawyers like, have you come to a conclusion what you
Speaker 1: want to do? I was like, well, I think I
Speaker 1: want to take a jury. And you're like, oh no, no, no, no, no, listen, listen.
Speaker 1: We're out here and Skulkie. These people out here read
Speaker 1: and see on the news all day long about gang
Speaker 1: related murders. He's like, I think we're standing a better
Speaker 1: chance of this judge. He's a good judge. And not
Speaker 1: knowing the judge's background all being involved in the Great
Speaker 1: Lord operation, I was like, well, you're my attorney man,
Speaker 1: I got confidence in you, so we took a bench trial.
Speaker 1: Now you mentioned Operation great Lord, which is perhaps even
Speaker 1: more weighty as far as judicial import even more important
Speaker 1: than this Roague detective Convera. And for the listeners who
Speaker 1: don't know, Operation great Lord was the largest corruption bus
Speaker 1: in United States history comes straight out Cook County, or
Speaker 1: should they say Crook County, Illinois, led to an unpresidented
Speaker 1: number of indictments against pub of an officials that got
Speaker 1: seventeen judges for the eight lawyers, eight cops, ten deputy sheriffs,
Speaker 1: eight court officials, and one good old legislator. Can't leave
Speaker 1: him out your judge was one of the many judges
Speaker 1: investigated in this sting operation. The Honorable Judge Michael Close
Speaker 1: was alleged to have taken a bribe in a case
Speaker 1: not connected to this one, but nevertheless, it was still
Speaker 1: alleged that one of these two defendants, fighting a murder
Speaker 1: case and front Judge Close, Robert Bridges, paid twenty five
Speaker 1: dollars so that he would obtain a not guilty verdict
Speaker 1: in his bench trial. And this rappi John Carterlino, who
Speaker 1: also had Judge Close, would be conversely found guilty. So,
Speaker 1: unbeknownst to you, Jock, you're having a bench trial, So
Speaker 1: your whole life is placed in this judge's hands, who's
Speaker 1: obviously morally compromised. So, Jack, what was presented against you?
Speaker 1: What did they actually use during the trial the prosecution
Speaker 1: port Alano Lopez understand he was primed up by Gavera
Speaker 1: to say that he saw a man from the back
Speaker 1: about five ten wearing a black and gold with a
Speaker 1: gold dyed ponytail. He said that the man shot Felix
Speaker 1: and hopped into a getaway card that went down Spaulding.
Speaker 1: When asked if he got a look at the shooter's face,
Speaker 1: he said that he only caught a glimpse of the shooter,
Speaker 1: always looking at the back of the shooter. When asked
Speaker 1: if he could point to the shooter in court today,
Speaker 1: he said it was me and he pointed at me.
Speaker 1: I was going crazy at that moment, you know, and
Speaker 1: in my mind saying, you're fucking lying man, Why are
Speaker 1: you doing this, Why are you saying that this is me?
Speaker 1: And you know, dan Way, I didn't do the shooting.
Speaker 1: The Gavera got to understand had said that when he
Speaker 1: arrested me that I had a ponytail which was dyed
Speaker 1: gold or blind in the back, which of course it
Speaker 1: never was. And then Vera said he visited the victim,
Speaker 1: Felix Realiteen in the hospital, maybe a couple of days,
Speaker 1: if not a week before he died, and that he
Speaker 1: identified me as to shoot her out of a photo lineup.
Speaker 1: My defense put on Officer Electrics was the officer that
Speaker 1: was on the scene who spoke to the victim. So
Speaker 1: upon Officer Electric she didn't understand, the state intervened and
Speaker 1: they had a sidebar and Judge Klose said, I'm only
Speaker 1: gonna allow competent evidence, and so he would not allow
Speaker 1: Officer Electrics to testify that Phelix Valuctin, the victim has
Speaker 1: said that Jose Roger was the one who shot him
Speaker 1: and Philip Meevz was the one that was driving the car.
Speaker 1: He was only allowed to say that he was on
Speaker 1: the scene and he visited the victim, and he attempted
Speaker 1: to arrest two individuals in this case. And basically that
Speaker 1: was it. So if I understand, as you're saying, the
Speaker 1: rich who's got a dying declaration from the victim in
Speaker 1: the hospital who shot him for some reason, this is
Speaker 1: not competent or credible evidence in his eyes exactly. I
Speaker 1: couldn't believe it. And then my alibi was the mother
Speaker 1: of my kids. Saw my atturn Me's telling me, well,
Speaker 1: they're gonna say she's biased because she's the mother of
Speaker 1: your kids and that she would life you. The state
Speaker 1: trying to say that, well, if Mr Rivera was actually
Speaker 1: at home with his wife at the time of the shooting,
Speaker 1: the defense would have put her understanding. My lawyer was like,
Speaker 1: we object, your honor, we're not unnethal obligation to present
Speaker 1: a defense from the corner. Hell told him that you
Speaker 1: represent me, you know. And then my lawyer says, well,
Speaker 1: the state would have said she was biased anyways, So
Speaker 1: you found guilty. Bring us to that moment right then,
Speaker 1: about the closing arguments, I actually thought that Judge Close
Speaker 1: was gonna take some time and go back into his
Speaker 1: chambers and consider all the evidence and come back and
Speaker 1: gave his decision. But right they understand after the closing arguments,
Speaker 1: he said, well, I came to my conclusion and I
Speaker 1: find the defended guilty. And I was like, wait a minute, man,
Speaker 1: you know, he didn't even take ten fifteen minutes. He
Speaker 1: just came straight down and said I found the defended guilty,
Speaker 1: and I was like, oh my goodness. He went back
Speaker 1: for sentencing and he gave me sixty years for the murder,
Speaker 1: for the shoot, he gave me twenty years for routine hideous,
Speaker 1: and then he gave me five for the u U
Speaker 1: W the gun, which they never had. First of all,
Speaker 1: I was worried about my family, one of my kids,
Speaker 1: my kids, What's gonna happen to them? But I knew
Speaker 1: at that point that I had to prepare for what
Speaker 1: I was going into. I wind up at the Stage
Speaker 1: Correctional Center June of right. I was actually there in
Speaker 1: the eighty nine. So can you describe that? What's this like?
Speaker 1: What's this environment to you? Well, the only thing that
Speaker 1: saved me was the gang that I wrote with. They
Speaker 1: were ready waiting for me to come in. They meet
Speaker 1: you downstairs while you're in the bullpen, and they go
Speaker 1: tell the sergeant, hey, this is one of ours. Put
Speaker 1: them up there with us, because the gangs at that
Speaker 1: time they consider themselves owning the cells exactly. And the
Speaker 1: officers put the response building on the gang chiefs to
Speaker 1: keep the Indians in mind and find him with sell.
Speaker 1: So if I'm walking out seven gallery, I looked down
Speaker 1: to one gallery and I see this guy hit this
Speaker 1: officer with a baseball back and I went, oh, my goodness,
Speaker 1: and they put me in The cell was an empty cell,
Speaker 1: and we went on a ninety day lockdown in the
Speaker 1: middle of June andree Weather. I had no salt, no shampoo,
Speaker 1: I had nothing. And then during the second month of
Speaker 1: being on the lockdown, they sent another key up there,
Speaker 1: who're just coming in, and they put him in a
Speaker 1: cell with me. So we got along pretty good, and
Speaker 1: we came up a lockdown. You know, we never even
Speaker 1: made it to the child hall. Also came up there,
Speaker 1: key us out. We came out the cells and you
Speaker 1: hear the gun go out, boom boom. Back on lockdown, Home,
Speaker 1: back on lockdown. Six months of lockdown, A first entering
Speaker 1: the prison system, and it was hell, pure hell. Did
Speaker 1: you try to, like study law? What was your mental
Speaker 1: process as far as how you were going to get
Speaker 1: out of there? Well, I couldn't study nothing because we
Speaker 1: was on a lockdown. We couldn't go nowhere. Nobody really
Speaker 1: had any law books. Amazingly enough, before I left the
Speaker 1: county jail, somebody told me, listen, man filed for your
Speaker 1: notice of a pill because you only got thirty days
Speaker 1: to do this. So I fouled it in the county jail.
Speaker 1: I was telling my wife. I was like, listen, I
Speaker 1: got all this time. Ain't no suching you went around
Speaker 1: for me, you know, just move on with your life.
Speaker 1: She said, well, it's wait to see what happens to
Speaker 1: the appeal process. I got that dreaded letter, sorry Jaques
Speaker 1: to farm you that the appoll a cart they denied
Speaker 1: our petition today and bla blah blah blah blah. I
Speaker 1: think at that point I started to lose hope. And
Speaker 1: so now you're done with your direct appeal. Do you remember,
Speaker 1: like what year this was? Maybe? So, how did you
Speaker 1: first hear about Northwestern Center Wrong for Convictions. I know
Speaker 1: they get thousands of letters every year from inmates seeking representation.
Speaker 1: They represented me, but they had told me no three
Speaker 1: times prior. Do you know what what major case stand
Speaker 1: out to them actually was Detective Guvera. After losing that
Speaker 1: director pill and knowing what was ahead of me, I
Speaker 1: got to start reaching out to people, and the law
Speaker 1: liberied in Stateville. They have a list of pro bonn
Speaker 1: attorneys and law firms that would help with cases and
Speaker 1: stuff like that. So I wrote Northwestern and Katherine Crawford
Speaker 1: was one of the attorneys there who contacted me because
Speaker 1: we're not taking your case. We're just investigating Detective Guevera,
Speaker 1: and we just want to ask you some questions. If
Speaker 1: we should happen to come upon something, then we'll be
Speaker 1: interested in taking the kids. She stated that they were
Speaker 1: trying to find the eye witness, which Islando Lopez. She goes,
Speaker 1: you know, you have a good case, but you have
Speaker 1: a bad case. You got a good case because you
Speaker 1: was convicted on a single identification, no physical evidence, but
Speaker 1: it's a bad case because there's no evidence that's notfing
Speaker 1: for us to go on other than this eyewitness. And
Speaker 1: we've been trying to locate them. So then in two
Speaker 1: thousand and ten, with the advance of the search engine tech,
Speaker 1: Northwestern locates the only way against you, Orlando Lopez. It's
Speaker 1: been twenty three years since his false identification you. So
Speaker 1: what happens next? They went to his home and he
Speaker 1: answered the door and they give him their car to
Speaker 1: tell them who they was. He goes, I know who
Speaker 1: you're here for. You're here for Jacques Rivera, and according
Speaker 1: to dark statement, he just kept saying, you know, this
Speaker 1: is all about redemption. He says, first of all, I
Speaker 1: didn't even know if Jacques Rivery was still locked up.
Speaker 1: He goes, I don't even know what happened to the case.
Speaker 1: He needed to clear his conscience so this and he's
Speaker 1: got three boys. He said he couldn't look at them
Speaker 1: in the face knowing that something like this can happen
Speaker 1: to them. They asked him about the Fetix volunteer shooting
Speaker 1: and he proceeded to say what transpired that day, and
Speaker 1: he just stated that he was there and he saw
Speaker 1: somebody and detect Ever, another Rivera picked him up two
Speaker 1: days maybe three days after shooting. He was showing a
Speaker 1: line up to identify somebody and he made no identification,
Speaker 1: and then he proceeded to saying that A couple of
Speaker 1: days later, as he's walking to school, he sees the
Speaker 1: guy who actually shot and killed Felix Valentine and he
Speaker 1: says he knows he's the guy because he had the
Speaker 1: same pants and jacket on, and he said to himself,
Speaker 1: this is the guy who did it. It was a
Speaker 1: Jacques Rivera. But he told you old, you don't know
Speaker 1: what to do. So Orlando knew what Phelix knew, but
Speaker 1: none of this mattered to Detective Gevera, So how does
Speaker 1: he handle this eleven year old kid or miss Sandal? However,
Speaker 1: you won't put it. So now here we go with
Speaker 1: the technico Rivera telling him that this is the guy
Speaker 1: we believe who killed your sister's boyfriend's brother, and we
Speaker 1: need you to get this guy. We need to get
Speaker 1: him off the streets so he doesn't kill nobody else.
Speaker 1: And Lando Lopez is like, you don't understand, it's not him.
Speaker 1: He said, I've seen the real guy. This is not
Speaker 1: the guy. So Goevera proceeds with saying, well, this is
Speaker 1: what Felix Valentine said. So Lindo Lopez, he says, they
Speaker 1: weren't listening to him. He said, well, if they're not
Speaker 1: gonna listen to me, and this is his decimon he said,
Speaker 1: he proceeded to make the identification of me, knowing that
Speaker 1: it wasn't me. So now the only witness in the case,
Speaker 1: Orlando Lopez. He becanning a record you got also electrics.
Speaker 1: He's standing by this original identification that Felix made prior
Speaker 1: to his passing. So all you really have to get
Speaker 1: around now is whether Felix had changed his story prior
Speaker 1: to pass and made a dying declaration to Guvera to
Speaker 1: somehow implicate you, that is when and if he ever
Speaker 1: even spoke to Calvera. So now my attorneys they find
Speaker 1: the doctor that was taking care of Phelix Valentine while
Speaker 1: he was sat in intense of care. The doctor said
Speaker 1: it was impossible for the Felix Valatee to identify anybody
Speaker 1: because at that stage he had stipped into a coma.
Speaker 1: So they very fabricated that whole line of procedure. And
Speaker 1: when my lawyer's asked for that lineup, they said, what
Speaker 1: was these kN of photos? Because when you make an
Speaker 1: identification of somebody, you put that into evidence. Could have
Speaker 1: produced the photos because it never took place. So as
Speaker 1: this evidence is coming out, how is the cooclarity State's
Speaker 1: Attorney's office, how are they responding to these allegations. Darren O'Brien,
Speaker 1: who was the station attorney, offers me a plea deal.
Speaker 1: My attorney came down to State Billed to see me
Speaker 1: and she said, I know how you felt about this,
Speaker 1: but I still have to bring it to you. They
Speaker 1: offered you a plea deal. It's Wednesday, you could be
Speaker 1: home by Friday. Now you'd be surprised because a lot
Speaker 1: of people would jump on this. I know people personally
Speaker 1: have jumped on this. Myself, I wouldn't even have no
Speaker 1: talk of a plea bargain. Now. I've also seen the
Speaker 1: state's attorneys when they're about to lose one of these
Speaker 1: long protracted court battles with someone locked up, start using
Speaker 1: continuance after continuance. It's almost like a weapon of choice,
Speaker 1: not just to wear down the resolve and get you
Speaker 1: to take a plea deal, but even wave your right
Speaker 1: to file for a certificate innocence and not come after
Speaker 1: them with any type of civil I builty, you know,
Speaker 1: knowing like this is out there playbook, this is what
Speaker 1: they do. They try to wear you down where you
Speaker 1: tempted it all. Take the plea deal. Absolutely not, because
Speaker 1: my heart was for the victims family, and that's the
Speaker 1: guy on the street. What price would I pay for
Speaker 1: my freedom? So mental something that I didn't do, and
Speaker 1: to lie to this victim's family and tell them, yeah,
Speaker 1: I killed your son, Absolutely not. I said I got
Speaker 1: twenty plus years left. If I have to go back
Speaker 1: to do this, I'd be more than happy to go
Speaker 1: back and do it with it not only a clear conscious,
Speaker 1: but with a happy heart. So from the time they
Speaker 1: brought you to plea deal, how much longer before you're
Speaker 1: actually accord on the hearing? It's about six months. And
Speaker 1: then uh January two thousand and eleven, Judge Closed retired
Speaker 1: and passed away. You know, the state attorney said we're
Speaker 1: gonna keep it here in county, and they appointed me
Speaker 1: a judge which was near Walsh, who just came out
Speaker 1: of the stage attorney's office. Lando Lopez came into testify,
Speaker 1: and this testimony was what matter to me is that
Speaker 1: I'm here today the state that dead man and he
Speaker 1: pointed right at me, Jacques Rivera was not the man
Speaker 1: who shooting killed Felix Vanit team back in nine and
Speaker 1: I was like, hallelujah. So Judge Narra Wash ruled that
Speaker 1: Lopez's recantation was credible, stating that the only reason the
Speaker 1: court sees for this recantation now is a desire to
Speaker 1: correct the mistake. And she ordered a new trial for you.
Speaker 1: And then October four, eleven, Cookarrey prosecutors announced that they
Speaker 1: did not intend to proceed on new trial and dismiss
Speaker 1: all charges, and you were freed that day. Take me
Speaker 1: to that moment. Oh my gun, as I finally said.
Speaker 1: And it took this long to do all this, twenty
Speaker 1: three years man. So you were awarded a certificate innocence,
Speaker 1: and you were awarded two hundred eight thousand dollars state compensation.
Speaker 1: And that same year you filed a lawsuit against Chicago
Speaker 1: Police Detective Grevert and others for airing evidence impression witnesses
Speaker 1: the false to identify you and June you were awarded
Speaker 1: for seventeen million. Yes, that is amazing. How do you
Speaker 1: look back on this? I mean, for me, it's water
Speaker 1: under the bridge, although it does still affect me in
Speaker 1: some ways. Right now, this is a long ordeal. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I'm just glad to be home with my friends.
Speaker 1: Most a party of my kids, which devastated our relationship
Speaker 1: being away from them. My daughter, she was six months old.
Speaker 1: She don't even know who I am. Well. My boys,
Speaker 1: on the other hand, is different, but we still have issues.
Speaker 1: We're working at them, trying to be a family. I'm
Speaker 1: just grateful for it, only because I don't really need nothing, Patrick.
Speaker 1: I try to help other people, and that's what I'm doing.
Speaker 1: I'm and restore to justice working out. I accept calls
Speaker 1: for guys from the prisons, anything they might need, try
Speaker 1: to hook them up with attorneys or put them involved
Speaker 1: with for Convicious Centers. I just try to do my part.
Speaker 1: You know. I know that I left behind a lot
Speaker 1: of good brothers who are innocent, and a lot of
Speaker 1: them who said they're guilty but they have remorse. But
Speaker 1: I'm not going to leave them there just like that.
Speaker 1: So if you could get the listeners to help out,
Speaker 1: to join in, what would you implore them to do.
Speaker 1: There's so many Raw for Convicious centers. Exoneration Project, the
Speaker 1: Innocence Project in New York, the Center Raw for Convictions,
Speaker 1: the Blum Legal Claim a Kid in Chicago definitely could
Speaker 1: use of support. Some of its finance, some of it's
Speaker 1: just volunteer words. So many innocence projects that could be
Speaker 1: supported need attorneys to volunteer to time pro bono investigators.
Speaker 1: But help is always needed. We'll have links in the
Speaker 1: bio and now we'll go to the closing portion of
Speaker 1: our shows. I want to thank the listeners and I
Speaker 1: want to thank Jason Flam for having me. I want
Speaker 1: to keep the tradition going. I want to allow Jack
Speaker 1: Rivera had the last word. So I'm going turn my
Speaker 1: mic off, turn my headphones up, and let you just say,
Speaker 1: you think, don't ever give up hope, man and and
Speaker 1: and that's not only done with raw for convictions. That's
Speaker 1: dealing with everyday life. Our that as a great God,
Speaker 1: and he loves us and he cares about us. A
Speaker 1: lot of people don't realize that. I didn't realize that.
Speaker 1: I'm then you know there is a God and he
Speaker 1: delivered me from an eighty years sentence on a wrongful conviction.
Speaker 1: I'm a part of our program called Innocent Demand Justice,
Speaker 1: just the families of loved ones and learned carcerated wrongfully.
Speaker 1: And we try to show support anyway that we count,
Speaker 1: either by March's protests, going to court hearings. You know
Speaker 1: how hard it is for loved ones. Anything could happen
Speaker 1: in prison and they're scared for their loved ones. Yeah,
Speaker 1: don't ever give up hope, keep hope alive. Thank you
Speaker 1: for listening to Wrongful Conviction. I'd like to thank our
Speaker 1: production team, Connor Hall, Justin Golden, Jeff Clyburne and Kevin
Speaker 1: Wardis with research by Lila Robinson. The music in this
Speaker 1: production was supplied by three time OSCAR nominated composer Jay Ralph.
Speaker 1: Be sure to follow us on Instagram at Wrongful Conviction,
Speaker 1: on Facebook at Wrongful Conviction podcast, and on Twitter at
Speaker 1: wrong Conviction, as well as at Lava for Good. On
Speaker 1: all three platforms, you can also follow me on both
Speaker 1: TikTok and Instagram at it's Jason Flom. Wrongful Conviction is
Speaker 1: the production of Lava for Good Podcasts and association with
Speaker 1: Signal Company Number one