Two Latino Men Released From Prison After 23 Years of Wrongful Incarceration Based on "profoundly alarming acts of misconduct" by police

Chicago Tribune 

On Wednesday, Jose Montanez and Armando Serrano were released from prison after 23 years when prosecutors dismissed the murder charges against them.

Montanez and Serrano were convicted of a 1993 murder based on the testimony of an incentivized witness who was allegedly fed information about the crime by Reynaldo Guevara, a former Cook County detective who is now under scrutiny for many similar accusations of misconduct.

The men maintained they had nothing to do with the crime and solicited the help of the Medill Justice Project. In 2004 after a series of interviews, the key witness in the case recanted, saying Guevara coerced his testimony.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel launched an investigation into cases involving Guevara a number of years ago and determined that at least four people, including Montanez and Serrano, were likely wrongfully convicted as a result of Guevara’s misconduct.

Montanez and Serrano were embraced by their families as they left the Leighton Criminal Court Building on Wednesday.

“I knew I was innocent so that made me hopeful that someday I would get justice, and fortunately that day is today,” Serrano told the Chicago Tribune.

Serrano and Montanez were convicted on the testimony of Francisco Vicente, a heroin addict facing four felony charges who allegedly told Guevara that the two men had confessed to fatally shooting Rodrigo Vargas in his van as he left his Humboldt Park apartment for work.

In 2004, after a series of interviews with students from the Medill Innocence Project, Vicente recanted his testimony, saying Guevara had fed him the story.

Dozens of Montanez's and Serrano's family members and supporters packed a courtroom at the Leighton Criminal Court Building on Wednesday, laughing as Judge LeRoy Martin asked attorneys for the men if they had any objection to charges being dismissed.

Outside the courtroom they embraced, some in near-disbelief that a day they had waited two decades for had finally arrived.

The announcement by prosecutors came after a harshly worded appeals court ruling last month found that "profoundly alarming acts of misconduct" had led to the convictions of Montanez and Serrano for a 1993 murder.

Attorneys for the men said they hoped the decision was a signal that Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez was taking a fresh look at all cases involving former Detective Reynaldo Guevara.