CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Several men who have been exonerated in cases involving disgraced former Chicago Police Detective Reynaldo Guevara said the City is still fighting them as they work to get their lives together.
Judges and even the Cook County State's Attorney’s Office have agreed that a number of murder cases were irrevocably tainted by Guevara’s actions. The former detective was accused of framing suspects, coercing false confessions and manufacturing evidence.
Johnny Flores, who spent nearly three decades behind bars, said he suffers from PTSD, and his family does, too.
“There’s frustration, there’s anger, there’s confusion,” Flores said. “There’s a lot of emotions that our loved ones and our circle of friends have to put up with.”
Standing outside City Hall, Daniel Rodriguez said he spent nearly 18 years in prison after being framed by Guevara and another detective. He talked about the time lost. When he went into prison, his oldest daughter was two.
“Two years old. When I came home, my granddaughter was two years old,” Rodriguez said. “Imagine that: Leaving your kid at two years old, and coming home, and your granddaughter’s two years old.”
Still, Attorney Russell Ainsworth said the City is working to defend Guevara.
“The City is fighting the civil rights suits that have been filed,” Ainsworth said. “They have also tried to intervene in certificates of innocence, paying lawyers to go in and try to fight certificates of innocence that are being sought by innocent men.”
The attorneys are calling on the City to stop fighting the lawsuits and to apologize for Guevara’s actions.
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