As reported by Fran Spielman in the April 18, 2006 Chicago Sun Times, a Cook County jury recently rendered a verdict of $6.74 million dollars against the City of Chicago Police Department for the wrongful imprisonment of three men for a 1997 murder they did not commit. The civil trial grew out of the 1997 murder of Sindulfo Miranda, the owner of a furniture store in the City. Miranda was kidnapped and killed by members of the Latin Kings street gang who mistakenly believed he was a drug dealer. Omar Aguirre, Edgar Duarte Santos and Robert Gavol were picked up for the crime. Two of the plaintiffs had proof they were working at the time of the crime, which was ignored, according to their attorney, former Corporation Counsel James Montgomery. In addition, although neither Aguirre or Santos spoke much English, but both allegedly provided confessions in English. The three men ultimately spent five years in prison, until 2002, when federal prosecutors received information about the actual killers, who were indicted and convicted. The City dropped charges against Aguirre, Santos and Gavol in 2002 and the sentences were vacated.
Montgomery argued that the confessions were coerced, as were supposedly corroborative witness statements. The jury apparently agreed and found the City had acted with malice and had no probable cause for the charges. Montgomery offered evidence that one of the plaintiffs lost his family, who "gave up on him" during the incarceration. Another one of the plaintiffs became estranged from his wife and a sick child during the 5 years in prison. The jury awarded $3 million each to Aguirre and Santos, and $740,000 to Gayol.
Jennifer Hoyle, a spokesman for the City of Chicago, said attorneys for the City would be filing post-trial motions and would review their options if those motions failed.
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