jdswifey02
12-19-2002, 05:13 PM
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO — Four men imprisoned in Illinois for a drug-related murder did not commit the crime, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said Wednesday.
Fitzgerald simultaneously announced the indictment of members of a large, criminal gang who Fitzgerald said were actually responsible for that murder.
The victim was Sindulfo Miranda who was kidnapped in Chicago in 1997, beaten, tortured and killed.
Two of the four men wrongfully convicted of Miranda's murder were freed on bond Wednesday night from the Cook County Jail.
The other two co-defendants wrongfully convicted in the Miranda murder have been convicted of additional crimes and will remain in state prison, Fitzgerald said.
In the new indictment announced by Fitzgerald, he said charges have been placed against nine people in what he called a criminal gang known as the Carman Brothers Crew. Their crimes included racketeering conspiracy, murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, extortion, torture and drug charges.
Fitzgerald said 15 different people were kidnapped in eight different incidents committed because members of the Carmen Brothers Crew sought information or drugs.
In a press conference involving Fitzgerald, Thomas Kneir, special agent in charge of the Chicago Office of the FBI, Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine, and Chicago Police Supt. Terry Hilliard, the officials said part of the reason for the convictions of the wrong men was that a key witness lied.
That witness, identified as Miguel LaSalle, 40, of Deltona, Fla., and formerly of Chicago, has also been indicted for allegedly providing false information during the investigation of the murder.
In the press conference, Devine was asked if the case was another example of Illinois' criminal justice system convicting the wrong people.
Since capital punishment was reinstated in Illinois, 13 people who were sent to death row have been found to have been wrongfully convicted.
"It was law enforcement agencies that came up with this information and followed it up, and rather than duck it, were willing to stand up and say this is the right thing to do," Devine answered.
He said defense lawyers were partly to blame.
"This is a total system that relies in part on the adversary system. Some of the people on the defense side have to look at where they were in this case," he said.
Devine said two of the four men wrongly convicted pleaded guilty and two were convicted at trial. Of the four, two also gave confessions, and "There were no motions to quash the statements given by the defendants," Devine said.
Assistant Cook County public defender Marijane Placek said that was not true. She said she represented one of the innocent defendants, Omar Aguirre.
She said Aguirre's confession was written in English although he only speaks Spanish. Aguirre also denied the signature on the confession was his, Placek said.
Placek said she challenged the confession in court. She said in two trials of Aguirre for the same murder, the first ended in a hung jury. In the second jury trial, presided over by former Criminal Court Judge Ronald Himel, Aguirre was convicted of murder, Placek said.
Aguirre, 33, was convicted in January 1999 and was sentenced in March 1999 to 55 years in prison.
Authorities said Wednesday the other three men who were wrongly convicted were:
Luis Ortiz, 24, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced in February to 25 years in prison; Duarte Santos, 31, who pleaded guilty to aggravated kidnapping and was sentenced in February to 12 years in prison; and Robert Gayol, 39, was convicted of murder in September 2001 in a bench trial and sentenced to life in prison.
Santos and Aquirre were released on bond from Cook County Jail Wednesday evening.
Two cars full of family members greeted Santos as he left jail in the pouring rain, dressed in his inmate blues. Santos said he was glad to finally be reunited with his family for the holidays.
"There were five Christmases that I missed with my family," Santos said. "This one is going to be special, it's such a great blessing."
Aguirre left without speaking to reporters.
John Gorman, a spokesman for state's attorney Devine, said, regarding Aguirre's alleged confession, that Aguirre confessed in Spanish to a Spanish-speaking police officer. The officer translated it into English for an assistant state's attorney who wrote the confession out in English.
Aguirre then signed every page of the English-language confession, Gorman said.
CHICAGO — Four men imprisoned in Illinois for a drug-related murder did not commit the crime, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said Wednesday.
Fitzgerald simultaneously announced the indictment of members of a large, criminal gang who Fitzgerald said were actually responsible for that murder.
The victim was Sindulfo Miranda who was kidnapped in Chicago in 1997, beaten, tortured and killed.
Two of the four men wrongfully convicted of Miranda's murder were freed on bond Wednesday night from the Cook County Jail.
The other two co-defendants wrongfully convicted in the Miranda murder have been convicted of additional crimes and will remain in state prison, Fitzgerald said.
In the new indictment announced by Fitzgerald, he said charges have been placed against nine people in what he called a criminal gang known as the Carman Brothers Crew. Their crimes included racketeering conspiracy, murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, extortion, torture and drug charges.
Fitzgerald said 15 different people were kidnapped in eight different incidents committed because members of the Carmen Brothers Crew sought information or drugs.
In a press conference involving Fitzgerald, Thomas Kneir, special agent in charge of the Chicago Office of the FBI, Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine, and Chicago Police Supt. Terry Hilliard, the officials said part of the reason for the convictions of the wrong men was that a key witness lied.
That witness, identified as Miguel LaSalle, 40, of Deltona, Fla., and formerly of Chicago, has also been indicted for allegedly providing false information during the investigation of the murder.
In the press conference, Devine was asked if the case was another example of Illinois' criminal justice system convicting the wrong people.
Since capital punishment was reinstated in Illinois, 13 people who were sent to death row have been found to have been wrongfully convicted.
"It was law enforcement agencies that came up with this information and followed it up, and rather than duck it, were willing to stand up and say this is the right thing to do," Devine answered.
He said defense lawyers were partly to blame.
"This is a total system that relies in part on the adversary system. Some of the people on the defense side have to look at where they were in this case," he said.
Devine said two of the four men wrongly convicted pleaded guilty and two were convicted at trial. Of the four, two also gave confessions, and "There were no motions to quash the statements given by the defendants," Devine said.
Assistant Cook County public defender Marijane Placek said that was not true. She said she represented one of the innocent defendants, Omar Aguirre.
She said Aguirre's confession was written in English although he only speaks Spanish. Aguirre also denied the signature on the confession was his, Placek said.
Placek said she challenged the confession in court. She said in two trials of Aguirre for the same murder, the first ended in a hung jury. In the second jury trial, presided over by former Criminal Court Judge Ronald Himel, Aguirre was convicted of murder, Placek said.
Aguirre, 33, was convicted in January 1999 and was sentenced in March 1999 to 55 years in prison.
Authorities said Wednesday the other three men who were wrongly convicted were:
Luis Ortiz, 24, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced in February to 25 years in prison; Duarte Santos, 31, who pleaded guilty to aggravated kidnapping and was sentenced in February to 12 years in prison; and Robert Gayol, 39, was convicted of murder in September 2001 in a bench trial and sentenced to life in prison.
Santos and Aquirre were released on bond from Cook County Jail Wednesday evening.
Two cars full of family members greeted Santos as he left jail in the pouring rain, dressed in his inmate blues. Santos said he was glad to finally be reunited with his family for the holidays.
"There were five Christmases that I missed with my family," Santos said. "This one is going to be special, it's such a great blessing."
Aguirre left without speaking to reporters.
John Gorman, a spokesman for state's attorney Devine, said, regarding Aguirre's alleged confession, that Aguirre confessed in Spanish to a Spanish-speaking police officer. The officer translated it into English for an assistant state's attorney who wrote the confession out in English.
Aguirre then signed every page of the English-language confession, Gorman said.