Man's Double-Murder Charges Dropped After 27 Years In Prison
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Humboldt Park man has maintained he was framed by a Chicago Police detective for 27 years, and Wednesday, he learned he would be released from prison after spending nearly half his life behind bars.
2 Investigator Pam Zekman has followed Jose Maysonet's story.
"This is a case that involves the notorious detective Reynaldo Guevara," said Jennifer Bonjean, a civil rights and criminal defense attorney representing Maysonet.
Guevara has been accused of framing numerous suspects, including Maysonet, who was convicted of murdering two brothers -- Kevin and Torrence Wiley -- in 1995.
"He has spent 27 years in custody for a crime he did not commit," Bonjean said.
Last year, in an exclusive prison interview, Maysonet said he falsely confessed after Guevara savagely beat him by squeezing his testicles and beating him with a flashlight and phonebook.
"Did you commit this crime?" Zekman asked. "No. I didn't. I did not commit the crime," Maysonet said.
Wednesday, the Cook County State's Attorney's office dismissed the case against Maysonet, who had appealed his conviction. Last year, the Cook County States Attorney's office agreed to vacate Maysonet's convictions and life sentence after it was discovered that his attorney at his 1995 trial had a personal relationship with Guevara. The state had originally planned to retry Maysonet, but ended up dismissing all charges when Guevara, along with four other officers, refused to testify in court.
"He wept," Bonjean said of Maysonet. "He's overwhelmed, that's all I can say."
In addition to Maysonet, six other suspects who claim Guevara framed them have been released from prison.
Guevara, who retired in 2005, has refused to answer questions.
Maysonet's sister, Rose Maysonet, said her brother's imprisonment has been hell. "There was no Christmas, no Christmas, nothing, and finally we get to have Christmas at home."
Maysonet will likely join others now suing the city for wrongful convictions involving Guevara. Guevara's alleged misconduct has already cost the city more than $20 million.
