A Chicago judge overturned the 1987 convictions of six men, who served a combined 124 years for the murder of a local official, based on new DNA evidence. The murder weapon, a cake knife, was tested and found DNA from an unknown individual, excluding the convicted men. Their confessions were reportedly coerced through police abuse, and allegations of misconduct linked to a retired detective were raised. The judge described the case as a tragedy, highlighting the impact of wrongful convictions.
The convictions of Fernando Gomez, Lowell Higgins-Bey, Michael McCastle, Harry Rodriguez, and brothers Gregorio and Robert Cardona were based largely on confessions they claim were coerced when Chicago police detectives physically and psychologically abused them.
Attorneys for the six men successfully petitioned a Cook county court to overturn the convictions based on new DNA evidence as well as allegations of misconduct by a now retired Chicago police detective linked to at least 51 other wrongful convictions.
Those tests found DNA from an unknown person on the weapon but excluded each of the convicted men.
Lauren Kaeseberg, an attorney representing the men, said her clients jumped at the chance to give their DNA. From Day One, every single one of them said, Test everything, there's nothing that scares us.'
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