Jose Cruz (Photo credit: E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
On July 11, 2022, longtime CWC client, Jose Cruz’s convictions and sentence were vacated by Cook County Judge Tyria Walton. With a hearing approaching, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office agreed to vacate the convictions. Immediately after, the State moved to drop the murder and attempted murder charges against Jose Cruz who has been in prison since his arrest in 1993. Jose’s case was part of the Cook County State’s Attorneys’ wholesale review of disgraced former Chicago Detective Reynaldo Guevara cases.
Three witnesses observed portions of a 1993 shooting outside a Humboldt park gas station that left one man dead and another shot. Two witnesses told police that the shooters were tall and black while the other- a victim who was shot while lying on the ground- said the main shooter was a short Latino man- a description that describes Jose. While initially the victim did not select Jose Cruz out of a photo lineup shown to him by Guevara, he later told police he could after the police agreed to relocate him because he feared for his safety after his name and address were “leaked” by the police and printed in the Chicago Tribune. At the live lineup, Jose was the only individual made to sit atop a phone book making him stand out.
What was not disclosed to Jose was that Guevara visited the gas station attendant three times to try to convince him to say that Jose was the shooter. The gas station attendant was threatened and scared until his employer (who was still his employee nearly 29 years later) hired him an attorney and the harassment stopped. Though at the time he could not read English, the attendant signed a statement written in English that said the shooter was either “an olive skinned Hispanic or light skinned black.” When he was shown the statement years later, he confirmed that he never told police this and that this portion of the statement was fabricated.
Late former CWC co-director Jane Raley originally took Jose’s case in September 2012. Late former CWC director Karen Daniel took over some responsibility of Jose’s case until CWC Interim Director Greg Swygert took on the case soon after Jane passed in 2014. Partner Alex Marks of Burke, Warren, MacKay, and Serritella joined Jose’s team pro bono in 2021. Since the CWC took the case, over 30 students worked to free Jose.