WEBVTT - #243 Guest Host Patrick Pursley with Jacques Rivera 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:06.960 Welcome to a very special episode of Wrongful Conviction, in 0:00:06.960 --> 0:00:11.160 which we're trying something new. I've asked a previous guest 0:00:11.200 --> 0:00:14.160 to take on my usual role as interviewer. You might 0:00:14.240 --> 0:00:17.880 remember Patrick Pursley from his own episode of Wrongful Conviction. 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:22.120 Patrick did what seemed to be the impossible to win 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:25.800 his freedom. He got a law changed from inside prison 0:00:25.880 --> 0:00:29.280 to allow for the post conviction ballistics testing that proved 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:33.560 his innocence. Just an amazing feat accomplished by a truly 0:00:33.600 --> 0:00:36.600 amazing guy. And now he brings us an interview with 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:42.040 another innocent man who he knew while inside Illinois Dateville Penitentiary, 0:00:42.680 --> 0:00:43.600 Jacques Rivera. 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:52.640 On August twenty seventh, nineteen eighty eight, a sixteen year 0:00:52.680 --> 0:00:55.480 old named Felix Valentine was shot in his car on 0:00:55.520 --> 0:00:59.320 the West Side of Chicago. At the hospital, responding officers 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:02.160 spoke with the victim to identify the shooter and getaway 0:01:02.240 --> 0:01:06.360 driver as members of the Imperial Gangsters. However, a corrupt 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:11.160 detective named Ronaldo Gavera instead targeted JOCKX Rivera, a member 0:01:11.160 --> 0:01:14.679 of a different gang, the Latin Kings. Jox ran a 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:19.720 local recreation center that Gavera often targeted for information. Despite 0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:24.080 the victim's dying declaration to responding officers, Gavera claimed to 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:27.800 have gotten a different identification during the eighteen days before 0:01:27.880 --> 0:01:31.520 the victim's death. Gavera then misled an eleven year old 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:35.959 eye witness to corroborate that focush identification, charging Jocks with 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:39.920 the murder. JOCKX was tried under Judge Michael Close, who 0:01:39.959 --> 0:01:43.360 had recently been the focus of Operation Gray Lord, one 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:47.840 of the biggest judicial corruption investigations in the United States history. 0:01:48.400 --> 0:01:52.200 The judge would allow the testimony of the victim's original identification, 0:01:52.680 --> 0:01:56.760 and with the false testimonies Cavera and the misled child witness, 0:01:56.920 --> 0:02:00.960 Judge Close convicted and sends JOCKX Rivera to eighty years. 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:04.640 When the Center on Wrongful Convictions took on Jock's case, 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:08.320 they found the eyewitness, now an adult, who greeted them 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:10.840 with relief, saying that he had been waiting to tell 0:02:10.840 --> 0:02:14.440 the truth for the last twenty three years since. An 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:18.880 investigation into Carverre's corruption has resulted in the exoneration of 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:23.320 over twenty innocent men and women, costing Chicago over fifty 0:02:23.440 --> 0:02:41.040 million dollars in counting. This is wrongful conviction. Welcome to 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:44.320 wrongful Conviction. This is Patrick Persley, also known as Free 0:02:44.320 --> 0:02:48.040 Patrick Persley. I was previously a guest on Wrongful Conviction, 0:02:48.160 --> 0:02:51.480 but today I'm honored to feeling for Jason Flam and 0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:53.640 we have a very special guest with us, a friend 0:02:53.680 --> 0:02:56.160 of mine, someone I knew a long time while in 0:02:56.280 --> 0:02:59.680 state fuels of my own wrongful conviction, mister Jacks Rivera. 0:03:00.360 --> 0:03:03.840 Sir, Oh Patrick, I'm good man, I am really good. 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:06.040 So one, thank you for having the trust in me. 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:08.680 Tell your story on behalf of Jason Flom. I know 0:03:08.760 --> 0:03:11.160 it's hard telling our stories, put in our pain out 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:14.000 there on the line. Could you explain to the audience 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:16.880 a little bit about yourself and just our. 0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:23.240 Connection, our connection unfortunately being in prison together. You know, 0:03:23.360 --> 0:03:26.200 you was a great dude. Unfortunately for us, we were 0:03:26.200 --> 0:03:29.200 wrongfully convicted, so that doesn't change our character of who 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:31.680 we were before we went in there. We didn't let 0:03:31.720 --> 0:03:33.400 it change who we were. 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:38.480 No, we didn't, and I appreciate that. Jocks, your case 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:40.400 is well, you know, you kind of hit the double 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:43.680 reverse Jackpie here. You have one of the most corrupt 0:03:43.720 --> 0:03:47.160 detectives in Chicago history, which is saying a lot and 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:51.880 his name is Detective Ronaldo Cavert. Real infamous guy. It's 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:55.280 responsible for so many wrongful convictions over twenty accounts, and 0:03:55.800 --> 0:03:58.720 it's cost the city of Chicago fifty million dollars. And 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:01.360 I can just tell you it's a house lawyer from Stateville. 0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:03.880 You know, my twenty three years doing cases down there, 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:06.520 his name came up again and again, and there was 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:09.920 definitely a pattern present throughout. And then on top of that, 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:12.840 you got judge who was a person interest in investigation 0:04:12.920 --> 0:04:16.799 and judicial corruption in the eighties called Operation Gray Lord. 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:20.000 The investigation was meant to root out pay for play 0:04:20.080 --> 0:04:23.440 scandal on which judges were accepting bribes where basically they 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:27.320 were fixing everything from parking tickets to murders. The judge 0:04:27.360 --> 0:04:30.320 in your case, Michael Close, was alleged to it taking 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:33.159 twenty five thousand dollars to fix a murder case find 0:04:33.200 --> 0:04:36.200 one defendant not guilty and the other definditt guilty. I 0:04:36.240 --> 0:04:41.479 believe while Judge Michael Close was never criminally prosecuted, he 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:45.239 was pursued in civil suits and the Cook County State's 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:49.640 Attorney's Office they represented him, and basically their position was 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:52.880 that he was immune from civil litigation during the commission 0:04:52.880 --> 0:04:56.159 of his judicial duties, so therefore he was immune from 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:59.240 civil liability according to the law. So I think that 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:01.559 says a lot of about this case and where we're headed, 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:04.640 and we haven't even started yet. But Jocks, let's talk 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:07.240 about your life. What was your life like growing up 0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:09.200 in the city of Chicago during this time. 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:11.800 Yeah, growing up on the northwest side of Chicago, the 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:15.880 Humble Park area during the late seventies, all of the eighties, 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:19.320 you know, really gang infested, high crime, and you had 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:23.400 like four main gangs. There were the Imperial Gangsters, the 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:28.120 Same Spanish Cobras, the maniac Land Disciples, and the lank Kyns. 0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:32.200 My dad had passed away when I was fifteen, and 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:35.360 I had five other siblings that my mom had to 0:05:35.480 --> 0:05:38.320 take care of, and you know, I was just roaming 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:40.920 the streets. I was really distraught about my dad passing 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:42.880 I did, you know, he was kind of my rock, 0:05:43.000 --> 0:05:45.520 my guide, and you know, they didn't really have much 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:48.240 of a choice but to join the gang at that point. 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:51.400 They offered protection, and without that protection, you'll be a 0:05:51.480 --> 0:05:54.440 target in the area, and we couldn't move out that area. 0:05:54.600 --> 0:05:57.479 So it wasn't like I wanted to do that or 0:05:57.520 --> 0:05:59.960 go down that path. I just had no other choice. 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:02.960 I was a member of the land Kings. So in 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:06.240 Humble Park they had a festival yearly. It was called 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:10.400 the Fiesta post Analist. It's the celebration of the Latino culture. 0:06:10.960 --> 0:06:13.680 And there would be times where the gang violence was 0:06:13.760 --> 0:06:16.880 real bad in this festival time. So what the city 0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:20.240 decided to do, along with the Puerto Rican Institute, was 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:23.080 to pay game members to govern their own you know, 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:26.520 to stop the violence. So the gentleman from the Spanish 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:29.960 coalition suggested that we use this money to open up 0:06:29.960 --> 0:06:32.040 a community center, which was a great. 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:35.039 Thing and just for people not familiar with Chicago, this 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:39.360 was quite commonplace where the city paid the gangs to 0:06:39.440 --> 0:06:42.440 keep their guys in line. This was even done in prison, 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:45.840 and it's called in main tenant control program. So this 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:48.800 community center gets going over the years, gets a couple 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:52.080 of name changes, and I believe it's been named the 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:54.000 Humble Park Institute, that's correct. 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:57.479 Yeah, that's when I really got involved in it, and 0:06:57.839 --> 0:07:00.520 it was doing so well that the city they wanted 0:07:00.560 --> 0:07:03.200 to give us more money to open up a recreational center. 0:07:03.320 --> 0:07:05.159 They did, and we opened it up and that was 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:07.919 running it. It was called Mind and Body. We had 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:11.840 weights in their foolsball table, ara hockey gains for the 0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:14.640 kids for after school programs, and people came in there 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:16.520 a lot adults and kids. 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:20.280 So it was considered like a safe place for a family. Yeah, 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:23.679 even though it's like in this so called gang infrastructure, 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:26.320 there was some good elements that came out of it. 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:29.720 Oh yeah, definitely was. And that's why I think the 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:33.400 troubles began. This detective Nalvo Guevera. He used to come 0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:36.080 in there from time to time looking for people. I 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:37.680 was like, you know, we have none to hide here. 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:41.600 It seemed like at first that he was just interested 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:44.680 in how this program came about, who's involved in it? 0:07:44.800 --> 0:07:46.880 You know, who's in charge is running? I said, I am, 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:49.800 and we're part of the Humble Park Institute. And he 0:07:49.960 --> 0:07:51.600 used that as a means to come in there to 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:53.679 look for people that he was looking for from the streets, 0:07:53.680 --> 0:07:55.880 the gang members, whether if it was to arrest them 0:07:55.960 --> 0:07:58.320 or just to talk to them or whatever it may be. 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:01.200 So now this brings us today, end of summer nineteen 0:08:01.240 --> 0:08:03.360 eighty eight and the murder you got caught up in. 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:08.080 It was a gang relative murder. And I remember you 0:08:08.120 --> 0:08:11.360 tell me it took someone actually come into Stateville laying 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:13.400 it all out for you to actually know what was 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:16.840 going on behind the scenes, what this actual beef was about. 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:20.000 You had mentioned like multiple gangs operating this area. I 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:24.600 believe it was Latin Kings, Maniact Latin Disciples, the Imperial Gangsters, 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:28.280 Insane Spanish Cobras. What was going on at that time. 0:08:28.520 --> 0:08:30.720 Those were the heavy hitters, if I could say that. 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:34.200 And then you had these little block games and the 0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:38.160 two of them were Insane Campbell Boys and Maniac Campbell Boys. 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:41.120 And from what I understand was they were approached by 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:44.960 the Spanish Cobras and the Imperial Gangsters and they was 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:47.560 telling them, you can either join us or we're gonna 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:48.240 shut you down. 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:49.280 A simulation. 0:08:49.640 --> 0:08:54.199 Yeah, So I believe the Insane Campbell Boys went with 0:08:54.240 --> 0:08:59.360 the Insane Spanish Cobras ISC and the Maniac Cambo Boys. 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:02.360 They said we were going to become Maniac Latin Disciples. 0:09:03.000 --> 0:09:06.760 So the Maniac Camel Boys, now we're at war with 0:09:06.880 --> 0:09:10.400 the Imperial Gangsters about their decision about not riding with 0:09:10.520 --> 0:09:13.240 them but going with the Maniac Latin Disciples. 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:15.640 And from what I understand the victim in this case 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:19.160 we're talking about today, sixteen year old Felix Valentine. He 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:23.200 and his brother were maniac Campbo boys who were assimilated 0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:26.640 or basically had flipped into the maniac Latin Disciples, who, 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:28.400 like you said, they were now at war with the 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:31.680 Imperial Gangsters over that fact. And that takes us to 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:35.040 the day of the shooting August twenty seven, nineteen eighty eight. 0:09:35.200 --> 0:09:40.120 Where Felix Valentine got shot was Imperial Gangster's neighborhood. He 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:42.520 was over there with his brother. They were going to 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:45.520 a wedding, and his brother went up the stairs and 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:48.360 he waited in the car, you know, like saying, hurry up, 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:49.600 get up, to get out, because you know where he's 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:52.800 supposed to be in this area. So according to the 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:55.640 police report and that women's report, a car drove up, 0:09:55.960 --> 0:09:58.520 pulled right behind a Felix while he sat in the 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:01.760 mouth of the alley. Messenger got out. The car walked 0:10:01.840 --> 0:10:04.640 up to Felix and then this person opened fire on him. 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:08.480 His brother heard the shots, came downstairs, ran to the car, 0:10:08.600 --> 0:10:11.480 saw his brother limped over, and he opened the car 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:14.839 door pushed his brother. Felix over to the passenger side 0:10:14.880 --> 0:10:17.480 and took off to the hospital. There was a Chicago 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:20.200 police officer that came on the scene. He went to 0:10:20.240 --> 0:10:22.240 the hospital talk to the victim. 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:25.760 So this would be Officer Craig Letrich. He was responding officer. 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:27.920 He also talk to people at the crime scene. So 0:10:27.960 --> 0:10:32.560 the next day Felix Valentine stabilizes Officer Lectric went to 0:10:32.600 --> 0:10:36.640 the hospital and Felix told let Ridge and his partner 0:10:37.160 --> 0:10:39.840 that was the Imperial gangsters who had shot him, right. 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:43.120 Yes, sir, And he left the hospital, went back to 0:10:43.120 --> 0:10:46.800 the police station and came back with an Imperial gangster 0:10:47.040 --> 0:10:52.600 mug buck and lo and behold, Felix Valentine identifies Jose 0:10:52.800 --> 0:10:57.480 Rodriguez and Philip Nevis. And he didn't just identify them, 0:10:57.559 --> 0:11:01.319 he stipulated the participation that each of and he said 0:11:01.520 --> 0:11:05.200 that Jose Rodriguez shot him and Philip Nevis was driving 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:05.600 the car. 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:08.280 So this should have been like an open and shutcase. 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:12.040 But that's not how this goes down. So even though 0:11:12.520 --> 0:11:15.960 Felix found saying the victim in this case tells Officer Electric, 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:20.160 the responding officers whose attackers were detected. Guevera led the 0:11:20.200 --> 0:11:23.880 investigation a whole nother direction. Now, there's also a witness, 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:26.880 eleven year old boy from the Imperial Gangster's neighborhood named 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:31.320 Orlando Lopez, whose sister also happened to be dating Felix's brother, 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:35.520 and allegedly witnessed the shooting. And he allegedly said, because 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:38.400 we're not even sure what he actually said is might 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:41.520 have been fed to him by Gavera. But he allegedly 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:45.079 says he was standing at an indentation in the alley 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:47.439 and saw the shooter from the back and described the 0:11:47.480 --> 0:11:50.520 shooter as about five ten dressed in black and gold. 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:54.760 Now those are Latin King colors, not Imperial Gangster colors. 0:11:55.080 --> 0:11:56.319 What else was alleged? 0:11:56.800 --> 0:12:01.000 He said that the car turned southbound on Spall, which 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:03.520 is in the direction of the Latin Kings, and was 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:07.560 for certain that the shooter's hair in the back he 0:12:07.600 --> 0:12:10.360 had a ponytail, and it was dyed like a blond 0:12:10.520 --> 0:12:11.200 gold color. 0:12:11.360 --> 0:12:14.720 And Gavera starts looking for marks depending on in Latin 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:18.120 King's territory or maybe even had you in mind. So 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:20.160 how did you do it? How did you get caught 0:12:20.240 --> 0:12:20.560 up in this? 0:12:21.280 --> 0:12:23.480 Gavera came into the neighborhood. I was out there with 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:26.120 the guys. He drove upon us and he said, I 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:28.400 need to talk to you. What they used to do 0:12:28.559 --> 0:12:32.360 was use people as fillers in lineups, and I stood 0:12:32.400 --> 0:12:34.760 in a few lineups before. They just said, you know, 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:36.280 don't worry about it. We know you didn't do it. 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:39.600 We just need fillers. So and Gavera drove up and 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:40.800 he said, you know, we want to know if you're 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:42.920 standing in a lineup. And I just knew it was 0:12:42.960 --> 0:12:45.880 funny because it's like seven to ten guys there and 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:48.000 you picked me out of everybody. 0:12:48.679 --> 0:12:49.760 Did you fit the description? 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:52.880 No, not at all. I mean my hair was long 0:12:52.920 --> 0:12:55.600 in the back and never wore it in the ponytail, pigtail, 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:57.920 none of that, or had it dyed that color or 0:12:57.960 --> 0:12:59.000 any color for that matter. 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:02.959 So your very approaches you and you feel kind of 0:13:03.000 --> 0:13:05.240 strange about this line of being a filler. But you 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:08.079 did it before, so what's going through your mind? Is 0:13:08.120 --> 0:13:10.240 this is happening? And what happened? 0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:14.880 I said, something was wrong? And when I hesitated, he 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:18.000 opened up his coat and moved his coat from around 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:21.160 his revolver as to say, you could come peacefully, or 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:23.240 if you could come fortfully, I said, I know aught 0:13:23.320 --> 0:13:25.920 to do nothing wrong, so I went with him. I 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:29.600 was held in the police station for that day, in 0:13:29.640 --> 0:13:32.320 the whole next day, and then on the third day 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:37.320 they put me in a lineup with Imperial Gangsters. Why 0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:39.679 would you put me in a lineup with Imperial gangsters? 0:13:39.720 --> 0:13:41.840 If it was the Lame Kings, you did it right. 0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:45.359 That's crazy. And for Orlando Lopez is from the Imperial 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:48.800 Gangsters territory, he probably knows all those guys. It looks 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:50.280 a little bit like they might have been trying to 0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:52.679 lead the witness to pick someone that they didn't know. 0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:55.400 So were you identified at that time? 0:13:56.080 --> 0:13:58.280 No, I was not identified. They let me go. 0:13:58.840 --> 0:14:00.920 So that was your first line up with this case, 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:03.480 and they let you go, and little time passes, so 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:05.520 you probably think the whole thing is behind you, is 0:14:05.559 --> 0:14:08.480 blown over. But then at this time, if we could 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:11.000 kind of see like a split screen behind the scenes, 0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:13.839 you're living your life and these two other things are 0:14:13.880 --> 0:14:18.160 going on. First, Felix Mountein's health is rapidly going down. 0:14:18.679 --> 0:14:22.680 He now slips into a coma and eventually dies eighteen 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:27.359 days after the shooting on September fourteenth, nineteen eighty eight. Meanwhile, 0:14:27.440 --> 0:14:31.520 Cavera he's working in this Orlando Lopez kid. And it's 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:35.640 believed that Cavera told Lopez that he had visited Felix 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:39.520 at the hospital and Felix identified you. So then he 0:14:39.600 --> 0:14:43.000 starts pulling Orlando's heartstring and say, this is your sister's 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:46.000 boyfriend's little brother that could have easily been you. So 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:50.000 Cavera relates to Orlando, you know the victim told him 0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:52.920 it was Jacques. Rivera basically puts it on this kid, 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:54.880 like what would you want someone to do for you 0:14:54.920 --> 0:14:58.320 in this particular situation. So now Cavera he rolls up 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:00.000 on you again exactly. 0:15:00.200 --> 0:15:03.160 So, I was at the Humble Park Institute and here 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:06.320 the screeching of a car and it's Cavera and his 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:09.320 partner Harveston, and he said, hey, hey, camera, and I 0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:11.200 went up to them. I put my hands up right around. 0:15:11.400 --> 0:15:13.520 He cucked me up and he says, what car are 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:16.760 you driving? I said, a white Impalla. So why Cavera 0:15:16.880 --> 0:15:19.960 went to search my car? I'm asking his partner, I said, man, 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:22.160 what's going on? Man? Joe picked me up by two 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:23.960 weeks ago, you asked me to stand in line. The 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:25.600 by standing on line him, I'm let go he says, 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:28.680 I don't know, this is Devera's case. So Gvera came back. 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:31.480 He sat me in the squad car and started proceeding 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:34.600 to Area five police station, and I just kept hounding him. 0:15:34.600 --> 0:15:36.560 I was like, man, what's going on. They didn't buckled 0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:39.120 me in the back seat. So he stopped the car 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:41.880 real quick, and as I flew forward, he grabbed me 0:15:41.920 --> 0:15:45.360 by my shirt and he says, you're being charged with murder, motherfucker. 0:15:45.640 --> 0:15:47.480 And he pushed me back and he said, now shut 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:48.160 the fuck up. 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:59.720 This episode is underwritten by AIG, a leading global insurance company. 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:03.560 AIG is committed to corporate social responsibility and is making 0:16:03.560 --> 0:16:06.360 a positive difference in the lives of its employees and 0:16:06.400 --> 0:16:09.080 in the communities where we work and live. In light 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:11.920 of the compelling need for pro bono legal assistance, and 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:16.000 in recognition of AIG's commitment to criminal and social justice reform, 0:16:16.200 --> 0:16:20.040 the AIG pro Bono Program provides free legal services and 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:24.440 other support to underrepresented communities and individuals. 0:16:30.000 --> 0:16:32.560 When we get to the police station, they put me 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:35.920 in a lineup with Latin keeams. This was the second lineup, 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:38.600 so I said, this time, I'm going to stand dead 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:41.520 center to make sure where were this witnesses so you 0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:43.200 can see me to know that this is not me. 0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:46.240 Another detector came in and he made the noise like 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:48.840 a game show, ding ding ding ding ding ding. He said, 0:16:48.880 --> 0:16:51.640 we got a winner. They identified you as the shooter. 0:16:52.720 --> 0:16:54.960 They removed the other gentleman that was in the lineup, 0:16:55.000 --> 0:16:56.720 and they said, did you want to talk about this? 0:16:56.840 --> 0:16:58.600 I said, there's nothing to talk about, man. I said, 0:16:58.800 --> 0:17:00.240 I don't even know what's going on. What do you 0:17:00.280 --> 0:17:02.320 want me to say? And the Gavara came up to me. 0:17:02.320 --> 0:17:04.320 He goes, you know, you can make this easier on yourself. 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:06.639 Tell us who the shooter was, and we're going to 0:17:06.720 --> 0:17:08.440 put you down for the driver and we're going to 0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:11.280 help you out. I first thought to myself, not only 0:17:11.320 --> 0:17:14.359 do you want me to implicate myself it's something that 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:18.639 I didn't do, but you want me to implicate somebody else? 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:20.600 Throw was someone else under the bus too? 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:21.320 Yeah? 0:17:21.560 --> 0:17:23.880 And I told him you got to be crazy, man, 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:25.920 I'm not going to confess that somebody didn't do or 0:17:25.960 --> 0:17:28.840 implicate nobody else. He's like, well, that's okay. You don't 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:30.640 have to tell us something anyway, because you're going down 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:33.200 for this, and I was like, well, let the procedures begin. 0:17:34.400 --> 0:17:37.120 So during cookkinity jail, I know the experience as far 0:17:37.119 --> 0:17:40.400 as getting locked up, everything takes the fan, So can 0:17:40.440 --> 0:17:41.280 you describe that? 0:17:41.840 --> 0:17:44.600 Honestly, it was just a horrific time. Man. I had 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:47.720 no contact with my family. My wife was there when 0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:50.399 he picked me up the second time, so she vectually 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:53.080 got a lawyer that was a family lawyer to a 0:17:53.119 --> 0:17:53.840 friend of hers. 0:17:54.160 --> 0:17:56.080 Now leading up to the actual trial, did you take 0:17:56.080 --> 0:17:57.359 a jury or a bench trial? 0:17:57.760 --> 0:17:59.800 I asked her. Feel my friends and they're like, well, 0:17:59.800 --> 0:18:02.080 I have twelve people to say my fate stood of 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:04.120 one person. Man, I would take a jury. I would 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:06.040 take a jury. I would take a jury. Soap On 0:18:06.160 --> 0:18:07.840 going back to court, my lawd is like, have you 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:09.280 come to a conclusion of what you want to do? 0:18:09.359 --> 0:18:11.040 I was like, well, I think I want to take 0:18:11.040 --> 0:18:14.520 a jury, and he's like, oh no, no, no, no, no, listen, listen. 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:18.280 We're out here in Skulky. These people out here read 0:18:18.640 --> 0:18:21.240 and see on the news all day long about gang 0:18:21.280 --> 0:18:23.800 related murders. He's like, I think we stand a better 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:26.399 chance of this judge. He's a good judge, and not 0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:30.400 knowing the judges background being involved in the gray Lord operation, 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:32.720 I was think, well, you're my attorney, man, I got 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:34.760 confidence in you, so we took a bench trial. 0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:38.600 Now you mentioned Operation gray Lord, which is perhaps even 0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:42.520 more weighty as far as judicial import even more important 0:18:42.560 --> 0:18:46.480 than this rogue detective conveyra. And for the listeners who 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:50.720 don't know Operation gray Lord, what's the largest corruption bus 0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:54.359 in United States history? Comes straight out Cook County or 0:18:54.400 --> 0:18:57.399 should they say Cook County, Illinois. It led to an 0:18:57.520 --> 0:19:02.920 unprecedented number of indictments against public officials that got seventeen judges, 0:19:03.000 --> 0:19:08.679 forty eight lawyers, eight cops, ten deputy sheriffs, eight court officials, 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:12.000 and one good old legislator. Can't leave him out, Your 0:19:12.119 --> 0:19:15.240 judge was one of the many judges investigated in this 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:19.600 sting operation. The Honorable Judge Michael Close was alleged to 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:22.440 have taken a bride in a case not connected to 0:19:22.520 --> 0:19:25.600 this one. But nevertheless, it was still alleged that one 0:19:25.600 --> 0:19:28.640 of these two defendants fighting a murder case and front 0:19:28.760 --> 0:19:32.080 Judge Close, Robert Bridges, paid twenty five thousand dollars so 0:19:32.119 --> 0:19:34.439 that he would obtain a not guilty verdict in his 0:19:34.560 --> 0:19:38.800 bench trial. And this Rappie John Carterlino, who also had 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:44.200 judge close, would be conversely found guilty. So, unbeknownst to you, Jock, 0:19:44.359 --> 0:19:47.240 you're having a bench trial, so your whole life is 0:19:47.320 --> 0:19:53.160 placed in this judge's hands, who's obviously morally compromised. So, Jock, 0:19:53.240 --> 0:19:55.600 what was presented against you? What did they actually use 0:19:55.720 --> 0:19:56.399 during the trial? 0:19:56.840 --> 0:20:00.840 The prosecution put Alando Lopez understand He was pryed up 0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:03.960 by Gevera to say that he saw it man from 0:20:04.000 --> 0:20:07.480 the back, about five ten, wearing black and gold with 0:20:07.640 --> 0:20:11.320 a gold dyed ponytail. He said that the man shot 0:20:11.400 --> 0:20:15.160 Felix and hopped into a ghettoray card that went down Spalding. 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:17.679 When asked if he got a look at the shooter's face, 0:20:17.880 --> 0:20:20.000 he said that he only caught a glimpse of the shooter, 0:20:20.440 --> 0:20:23.160 always looking at the back of the shooter. When asked 0:20:23.160 --> 0:20:25.800 if he could point to the shooter and cord today, 0:20:26.000 --> 0:20:28.600 he said it was me and he pointed at me. 0:20:29.440 --> 0:20:32.520 I was going crazy at that moment, you know, in 0:20:32.560 --> 0:20:35.480 my mind saying you're fucking lying man, Why are you 0:20:35.600 --> 0:20:37.720 doing this? Why are you saying that this is me? 0:20:37.800 --> 0:20:40.520 And you know, Dan wat I didn't do the shooting. 0:20:40.920 --> 0:20:44.320 Then Gevera got understand and said that when he arrested 0:20:44.359 --> 0:20:47.320 me that I had a ponytail which was dyed gold 0:20:47.400 --> 0:20:49.679 or blind in the back, which of course it never was. 0:20:50.320 --> 0:20:54.720 And then Vera said he visited the victim, Felix Valentine 0:20:54.720 --> 0:20:57.040 in the hospital, maybe a couple of days, if not 0:20:57.119 --> 0:20:59.800 a week before he died, and that he identified me 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:03.640 to shoot her out of a photo lineup. My defense 0:21:03.680 --> 0:21:05.800 put on Officer Lectrice, who was the officer that was 0:21:05.800 --> 0:21:09.320 on the scene who spoke to the victim. So upon 0:21:09.480 --> 0:21:13.600 Officer Lectrich she didn't understand, the state intervened and they 0:21:13.600 --> 0:21:16.840 had a sidebar and Judge Close said, I'm only going 0:21:16.880 --> 0:21:20.520