|
Wrongly
Convicted Database
Record
|
Years
Imprisoned:
|
12 |
Charge: |
First Degree Murder |
Sentence: |
Death |
Year Convicted: |
1985 |
Year
Cleared:
|
1995 |
Location
of Trial:
|
Illinois |
Result:
|
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary
of Case:
|
Death Row Inmate - codefendant of Alejandro Hernandez. Convicted after two trials and acquitted after their third trial. Framed by police and exonerated by DNA evidence and admission by a sheriff deputy he had perjured himself with the knowledge of his superiors and multiple prosecutors. Falsely convicted on the basis of police perjury, witness perjury, tampering with evidence. 3 prosecutors and 4 sheriffs criminally charged in conspiracy to have them falsely executed - known were convicted. In September 2000 DuPage County settled the federal civil rights lawsuit by Cruz and his two co-defendants for $3.5 million. Awarded $120,300 by the State of Illinois as compensation in 2003. Pardoned by IL Gov. George Ryan in December 2002. |
Conviction
Caused By:
|
Falsely convicted on the basis of false confession, police perjury, witness perjury, tampering with evidence and prosecutorial misconduct. Convicted twice and during his third trial a sheriff deputy admitted he had perjured himself in his testimony against Cruz and his co-defendant Hernandez. |
Innocence
Proved By:
|
DNA testing and admission by sheriff deputy that he gave perjured testimony against Cruz and Hernandez.
|
Defendant
Aided By:
|
|
Compensation Awarded: |
$120k |
Was Perpetrator Found? |
|
Age
When Imprisoned:
|
|
Age
When Released:
|
|
Information Source 1: |
Death Penalty Information Center |
Information
Location 1:
|
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/Innocentlist.html |
Information
Source 2:
|
DuPage got a deal settling Cruz suit for $3.5 Million, By Eric Zorn, Chicago Tribune, September 28, 2000, pg. 1 |
Information
Location 2:
|
http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~critcrim/wrong/cruzd.html |
Information
Source 3:
|
""The Wrong Man: ," Alan Berlow, Atlantic Monthly, November 1999." |
Information
Location 3:
|
|
Information
Source 4:
|
NW School of Law Center on Wrongful Convictions |
Information
Location 4:
|
http://www.law.northwestern.edu/depts/clinic/wrongful/exonerations/cruz.htm |
Information
Source 5:
|
Convicted by Juries, Exonerated by Science |
Information
Location 5:
|
|
Ethnicity/Skin:
|
Hispanic |
Book
About
Case:
|
Victims of Justice, by Thomas Frisbie and Randy Garrett (Avon Books 1998) |
Book
Information:
|
|
Book About Case (2): |
Victims of Justice Revisited, by Thomas Frisbie and Randy Garrett (Avon Books 2005) |
Book Information (2): |
|
Movie About Case: |
|
Comments About Case: |
Falsely confessed |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org