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| Thaddeus Jimenez, 30, was exonerated of a murder for which he was wrongfully convicted when he was just 13 years old. CBS |
Posted: Monday, 04 May 2009 10:26PM
Man Freed After Spending 16 Years In Prison
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CHICAGO (CBS) ― A judge has exonerated a Chicago man who was convicted of a gang murder and sentenced to 50 years in prison when he was just 13 years old.
Thaddeus Jimenez was charged in a Feb. 3, 1993, gang-related murder of Eric Moro, 19, in the 3100 block of West Belmont Avenue.
Jimenez, now 30, was only 13 at the time of the murder. A judge still sentenced him as an adult to 50 years in prison.
But on Friday, Jimenez, 30, became what his lawyers say is likely the youngest person in U.S. history to be wrongfully convicted of a crime and exonerated after Cook County Criminal Court Judge Joseph Claps vacated his conviction. He was released from Hill Correctional Center in Galesburg.
CBS 2's Jim Williams reports that 16 years after he was locked up for a crime he did not commit, Thaddeus Jimenez is free and thanking a Chicago group who fought for years to win his release.
"They never gave up hope that this day would come and neither did I," Jimenez said. "You'll have to excuse me if I fumble with some of my words. I'm a little bit nervous."
A case of the nerves is nothing compared to what 30-year-old Thaddeus Jimenez has been through, spending most of his life in prison for a murder he did not commit.
"First thing is, I'm happy to be alive today," Jimenez said. "I'm happy to be here today after serving a little bit over 16 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections."
In 1993, Jimenez was just 13 years old when he was arrested for a gang murder on Chicago's north side. He was convicted in two trials after eyewitnesses identified him as the shooter.
Those eyewitnesses have now changed their testimony. The Cook County State's Attorney's office re-opened the investigation and vacated the conviction against Jimenez.
"We have eyewitnesses now years later who have recanted, and that is what led us to look into this case because we take that very seriously when there are recant issues," said State's Attorney Anita Alvarez.
Jimenez got an enormous assist from Northwestern Law School's Center for Wrongful Convictions. Years ago, he wrote a letter that impressed the center's director.
"Stunned, absolutely stunned. This was a letter unlike any I had ever read," said Steven Drizin of Northwestern Law School. "This was a learned person writing this letter."
The Center along with private lawyers spent more than 1,000 hours investigating the case and trying to prove Jimenez was innocent.
Jimenez was released from prison on Friday.
"It is the most gratifying day in my legal career," Drizin said. "And when I picked him on Friday night at Hill Correctional Center, it was incredible."
Jimenez read a short statement. He offered condolences to the family of the victim, and said he survived prison because of the love of his mother, who greeted him on Friday when he was released.
"Who battled cancer and other illnesses while I was away in prison, and who fought to survive so that she could be here when I was released," Jimenez said of his mother.
Jimenez was convicted in October 1994, and after the first trial was reversed for legal errors in the jury-selection process, he was convicted again in November 1997 and sentenced to 45 years. No physical evidence connected him to the crime.
Prosecutors don't know why the witnesses are now recanting and changing their testimony, but they are convinced Jimenez should be free.
State's Attorney Alvarez says she believes prosecutors and police acted properly 16 years ago.
Prosecutors have charged 30-year-old Juan Carlos Torres of Hammond, Ind., with the murder for which Jimenez was wrongly convicted. Torres is awaiting extradition to Illinois.
CBS 2's Jim Williams and the Associated Press and STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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