Juan Rivera again handed life sentence for 1992 rape and murder

Nothing much changes in the Juan Rivera case.

Rivera, 36, has been convicted three times for the savage rape and murder of 11-year-old Holly Staker on Aug. 17, 1992.

On Thursday, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the third time. And, Rivera's defense attorneys once again proclaimed his innocence and predicted an appeal would set him free.

"Thirty-six people from society have now heard the facts of this case," Lake County Circuit Judge Christopher Starck said of the three juries that have sat in judgment of Rivera. "And 36 people from society have found the defendant guilty of this horrible crime."

Staker was stabbed 27 times, strangled and raped as she baby-sat two children in a Waukegan apartment.

Rivera, then doing prison time for burglary, was taken in for questioning about two months after the crime and confessed to the murder after providing police with several alibis that were proven false.

His latest trial ran for close to a month before seven women and five men convicted Rivera after four days of deliberation.

The strain of the 17-year ordeal was evident in the victim impact statement read Thursday by Staker's mother, Nancy Kalinowski, who discovered her daughter's battered body crumbled behind a door.

"We have had to relive this nightmare three times through these trials," she said. "It is time for this to end; let Holly rest in peace, and give us some peace as well."

Rebecca Leon, Rivera's sister, told Starck that pain was not confined to the prosecution side of the room.

"We are also victims," Leon said. "We suffer just like Holly's mother and sister."

Rivera told Starck he believed he will be back in a Lake County courtroom someday.

"First and foremost, I am innocent," he said. "I have faith in truth and God; I will wait for justice."

Defense attorney Jeffrey Urdangen asked Starck to impose a sentence of less than life in prison so Rivera could take advantage of educational opportunities offered in prisons that are not classified maximum security.

But at the same time, Urdangen predicted Rivera would not be in prison for much longer regardless of the type of a facility where he is to be confined.

"He has endured 17 years in prison for a crime committed by someone else," Urdangen said. "We have faith in the system; we are not defeated and we know that Juan will prevail."

After the hearing, Rivera's defense team announced that Lawrence Marshall, a veteran of many high-profile murder conviction appeals, would lead Rivera's effort to win a fourth trial.

The defense claims DNA taken from Staker's body that does not match Rivera is conclusive proof he did not kill the girl.

Prosecutors argue Rivera's confession contains details only the killer could have known, and it is possible the girl was molested by another man before her encounter with Rivera.

Saying the life sentence was the only way to protect society from Rivera, Starck reached out to both families in the case.

"Both families have been through terrible, terrible things," Starck said. "But of course, it is the defendant who put the victim's family through this, and it is the defendant who put the defendant's family through this."

Timeline of Juan Rivera case

Aug. 17, 1992: The body of 11-year-old Holly Staker is found in an apartment on Waukegan's north side. She had been raped, stabbed 27 times and strangled.

Oct. 30, 1992: Juan Rivera is charged with the crime a day before his 20th birthday. Police say he confessed after five days of questioning.

April 6, 1993: Circuit Judge Charles Scott rules Rivera's confession was legally obtained after Rivera testifies he "blacked out" after police accused him of the murder and does not remember confessing.

Nov. 1, 1993: Jury selection begins for the first trial.

Nov. 19, 1993: Rivera is convicted by the jury that will refuse to order him executed the following day.

Dec. 21, 1993: Circuit Judge Christopher Starck sentences Rivera to life in prison.

Nov. 19, 1996: 2nd District Appellate Court in Elgin orders a new trial because of four errors committed in the first one.

Sept. 14, 1998: Second trial begins.

Oct. 2, 1998: Rivera convicted after four days of jury deliberations.

Dec. 10, 1998: Starck sentences Rivera to life in prison.

March 25, 2005: Lawyers for Northwestern's Center on Wrongful Convictions say improved DNA testing specifically excludes Rivera as the donor of semen found in Holly's body and ask for a new trial.

Aug. 29, 2006: Starck orders a third trial of the case.

April 13, 2009: Third trial begins.

May 8, 2009: Rivera convicted again by a jury after four days of deliberation.

Source: Daily Herald reports