Cops & Crime: $20 million wrongful conviction settlement at stake in divorce
Juan Rivera received $20 million last year to settle his lawsuit stemming from one of Illinois' most notorious wrongful-conviction cases.
Now, a state appeals court says, Rivera might have to hand some of that money to his soon-to-be ex-wife.
In a 30-page ruling, the First District Appellate Court of Illinois declared Melissa Sanders-Rivera - who married Juan in 2000, while he was serving a life sentence - has a claim to a portion of that settlement as part of the couple's pending divorce.
The ruling overturns a lower-court decision that said because the actions that led to Rivera's wrongful imprisonment began in 1992, the settlement should not be considered marital property. Appellate justices unanimously rejected that decision, saying Rivera could not have sued until his exoneration in 2011 - more than a decade after the couple wed while Juan was behind bars.
Rivera, who filed for divorce in 2014, could now ask the Illinois Supreme Court to take another look at the issue.
Fighting over record settlement
Rivera's $20 million settlement - he kept about $11.4 million after lawyer fees and other costs - was a U.S. record in a wrongful conviction case.
He was convicted of murder three times, and sentenced to life in prison on each occasion, for the 1992 slaying of 11-year-old Holly Staker in Waukegan. The convictions were based largely on a confession Rivera later said was coerced by investigators.
An appellate court overturned the final conviction in 2011, after DNA evidence from the crime scene excluded Rivera, and he walked out of prison a free man in January 2012.
Holly's murder remains unsolved.
Reader mail
Last month, we wrote about the website writeaprisoner.com, which helps prison inmates find pen pals on the outside. Among those on the site is notorious Elgin mass shooter Luther “Luke” Casteel.
A couple of readers weighed in on our column, including the daughter of a Casteel victim.
Katy Jarrette Swiecicki writes that while she's grateful her mother survived the shooting - unlike two of the 18 people Casteel shot - the event caused her family great hardship. The thought of Casteel getting his emotional needs met behind bars “makes me sick,” she wrote.
“I suppose I should hope he finds some peace to make better whatever demons he was dealing with that would let his mind move his body to carry out such an evil deed. But I don't,” she wrote. “I hope no one writes him.
“What he did nearly destroyed me and my family. Maybe I should feel more grateful that it didn't, and wish him a good life. But I can't. I can't afford him humanness. He's a monster. And anyone who'd write to him, perhaps inaccurately and certainly unfairly, suffers the same classification in my book.”
Reader Marc Denny had another take.
“I am presently corresponding with an inmate in the IDOC,” he wrote. “He is the son of a friend and from the tone of his letter he greatly appreciates the contact. I am not involved with the group you mentioned in your column but I strongly believe words from the outside are very helpful.”
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Unshackled
Juvenile justice advocates are praising the Illinois Supreme Court for its decision to bar authorities from routinely shackling young offenders during court proceedings.
The new rules, which take effect Nov. 1, say juveniles - those 17 or younger, in most cases - can be restrained only if a judge rules it's necessary to “prevent physical harm to the minor or another, the minor has a history of disruptive behavior that presents a risk of harm, or there is a well-founded belief that the minor presents a substantial flight risk.”
Elizabeth Clarke, president and founder of the Evanston-based Juvenile Justice Initiative, said juveniles have been restrained in court simply out of habit, not necessity.
She said only about a quarter of juvenile defendants are in court for violent offenses, and restraints give the false impression kids are dangerous. Besides being physically painful, the shackles can also leave emotional scars.
“It is incredibly traumatic,” Clarke said. “You're using shackles on children who might already have trauma in their past, and this just exacerbates it.”
Police in pink
Aurora cops are wearing pink badges throughout October - Breast Cancer Awareness Month - to show support for a pair of colleagues and everyone else battling the illness.
“We currently have two officers undergoing treatment for breast cancer,” Police Chief Kristin Ziman said. “Incorporating pink badges for Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a great way for APD to support their battle.”
A satisfying end
Back in 2004, before mass shootings were an all-too-common part of the national lexicon, the Hoffman Estates Police Department decided to make school safety a priority and chose Sgt. Joe Crimmins to lead that mission.
In the 12 years since, Crimmins has designed and supervised lockdown drills and led training in emergency preparedness for both schools and hospitals.
He led his final lockdown drills this week and retired, ending a 27-year career in law enforcement.
Crimmins told us the key to a lockdown working in a real-life situation is plenty of practice ahead of time. The school districts he's worked with over the past 12 years have been happy to cooperate.
“A basic plan that is practiced will always be superior to the most expertly drafted plan that is never practiced,” Crimmins wrote us.
Crimmins, who's also a licensed attorney, plans to dedicate more time to his law practice and use his experience with school and hospital safety as a consultant.
“It is fitting and appropriate to spend my last three days doing school lockdown drills,” he added. “Helping to make our schools safer ... what a satisfying end to a career.”
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