Exonerated Waukegan man out of prison, Innocence Project says
Angel Gonzalez, a Waukegan man who spent more than 20 years behind bars for a rape he did not commit, is a free man, according to the founding director of the Illinois Innocence Project.
Gonzalez, 41, was exonerated on Monday after DNA evidence cleared him of a 1994 Lake County sexual assault, but he remained in custody on charges he damaged a sink while in prison.
Officials with the state Department of Corrections would not confirm Gonzalez's release, but Larry Golden, the founding director of the Illinois Innocence Project, said Gonzalez was released from prison Tuesday after a Livingston County judge dropped charges against him.
Lake County State's Attorney Mike Nerheim said he was “happy the Livingston County prosecutor was able to work swiftly with the Innocence Project to ensure his release today.”
In July 1994, the victim was dragged from her home, thrown in a car and driven to a place where she was raped in some bushes. She briefly escaped, but was grabbed by a second person and raped again.
Nerheim said authorities stopped a vehicle matching the description of the car the woman gave and detained Gonzalez. The victim then identified him as her assailant.
Gonzalez was convicted of aggravated criminal sexual assault resulting in great bodily harm and aggravated kidnapping at trial in 1995 and was sentenced to 55 years in prison. He began writing letters to the Innocence Project and asked for DNA tests to help clear his name.
Initial DNA tests were not advanced enough to clear him, Nerheim said, but the science of DNA testing eventually evolved to prove Gonzalez was not behind the attack.
Nerheim said he recently received oral proof from the lab that Gonzalez's DNA was not discovered on the victim. Nerheim also received written confirmation that two DNA samples of unknown origin were found on the victim's clothes.
Gonzalez is the fifth man to be exonerated of a violent crime in recent years in Lake County after his conviction was overturned because of overwhelming DNA evidence in his favor.
Gonzalez was on his way back to Chicago Tuesday night.
• Daily Herald staff writer Lee Filas contributed to this report.