Ryan says he's 'sorry' for sending pair of innocent men to death row

SPRINGFIELD - For the first time publicly, former DuPage County State's Attorney and Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan said he's "sorry" for sending two innocent men to death row.

"In the Cruz-Hernandez cases, the system and I failed to achieve a just outcome. And for that I am sorry," Ryan, who's running for governor, said in an e-mail sent to reporters Thursday.

Ryan's message of contrition arrived the day after a DuPage County jury sent Brian Dugan to death row for the murder of Jeanine Nicarico in 1983, a crime Ryan had convicted other men of committing.

Rolando Cruz of Wheaton and Alejandro Hernandez of Aurora would both spend years on death row for the crimes before being exonerated and freed. In Cruz's case, Ryan continued to prosecute him after higher courts threw out the case and even after Dugan confessed to authorities.

Cruz, 46, who now lives in Wisconsin, said he was "shocked" after the Daily Herald read him Ryan's statement. He became emotional, and asked that Ryan agree to sit down with him in an informal meeting to talk. If Ryan hears him out, Cruz said he will not be campaigning against him.

"He manned up," Cruz said. "None of them ever has before."

Until Thursday, Ryan had been steadfast in his view that he'd done nothing wrong and had no regrets. Now he offered apologies for mistakes.

"On Wednesday, Brian Dugan was sentenced to death for the murder of Jeanine Nicarico. In the case of Brian Dugan, the criminal justice system worked. In previous prosecutions, it did not. I said in interviews in 2002 that I had less confidence in the accuracy of the criminal justice system than I did earlier in my career. I continue to believe that.

"In the Cruz-Hernandez cases, prosecutors, detectives and police officers acted in good faith and still came up with the wrong result," Ryan said in the statement.

He went on to say that the state must learn from its mistakes - "including my own" - if it is going to have a death penalty.

Cruz said Ryan's next step is to personally hear his side.

"I ask him to be true to his word. If he is telling the truth, and really means what he is saying, then he'll sit down with me face-to-face and listen to me about what it's like to be an innocent man on death row. There are five sides to this story. I'm one of them. If he really wants to understand the death penalty, then let me help him. Let me work with him. He needs to understand this side of it. I want him to see I'm not a Brian Dugan. I am a human being. Then he will really see how he almost murdered an innocent person."

"It's not a matter of forgiveness," Cruz said. "But I can make amends."

Ryan faced political criticism for his handling of the case during his 2002 run for governor against Democrat Rod Blagojevich. So far, the case had not been an issue in the infancy of his new campaign. One Republican challenger said it should stay that way.

"We don't intend to make it an issue in the campaign," candidate Andy McKenna, a Chicago Republican, told reporters when asked about Ryan and the Nicarico case.

Current DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett said the case "doesn't belong in politics anymore."

Birkett said of the Cruz saga, "What happened to these men is horrible."