$25 Million For Man Wrongfully Convicted Of Murder

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jan 25, 2012 4:45PM

A federal jury awarded $25 million in damages to Thaddeus Jimenez, who spent 16 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit before he was freed in 2009.

Jimenez was only 13 and a gangbanger with a lengthy criminal history when he was arrested for the killing of an older teen on the Northwest side in 1993. Students from Northwestern University Bluhm Center on Wrongful Convictions and other attorneys looked into Jimenez's conviction and discovered two key witnesses recanted their original claims that he was the gunman. On the day he was released from prison, prosecutors charged Juan Carlos Torres in the murder of Eric Morro. Jimenez also sued a Chicago detective for withholding and manipulating evidence that could have proven his innocence.

He was released from prison in May 2009, but has been arrested a couple of times since his release: once on a drug charge and another for scuffling with a Rosemont public safety officer. His attorney, Jon Loevy, said:

"The state's attorney's office … recognized an injustice had occurred and they corrected it," Loevy said. "They deserve a ton of credit for reopening the case … taking an honest look at it and correcting an injustice."

The verdict is pending appeal.