Trial Magazine

Felix Valentin, a gang member, was shot 10 times while sitting in a car in a Chicago alley. Valentin suffered fatal injuries. Members of the city’s gang crimes unit, including Steve Gawrys and Reynaldo Guevara, were assigned to investigate the shooting. The officers interviewed Orlando Lopez, 12, who witnessed the shooting from at least 50 feet away. Lopez later named Jacque Rivera, 24, from a photograph and two live lineups.

Rivera was tried and convicted of Valentin’s murder. He spent 21 years in maximum security prison before Lopez acknowledged under oath that he had never been able to identify Rivera as the killer. The state’s attorney dropped the charges against Rivera after the trial court granted him a new trial.

Rivera sued the city of Chicago, Gawrys, Guevara, and Sergeant Edward Mingey, alleging malicious prosecution and civil conspiracy under state law and deprivation of federal due process rights. The plaintiff claimed that the defendants conspired to prosecute him for ­Valentin’s murder, fabricating false evidence and manipulating Lopez to identify Rivera as the suspected killer.

The jury awarded approximately $17.18 million.

Citation: Rivera v. Guevara, No. 1:12CV04428 (N.D. Ill. June 29, 2018).

Plaintiff counsel: Jonathan Loevy, Steve Art, Anand Swaminathan, Rachel Brady, and Locke Bowman, all of Chicago.