Politics
Pay $17M to Man Who Spent 27 Years in Prison After Being Beaten Into Confessing to Murder by Disgraced Ex-Detective, City Lawyers Recommend
(WTTW News)
Chicago taxpayers should pay $17 million to a man who spent 27 years in prison after he was beaten and coerced by a disgraced former Chicago police detective into confessing that he killed two brothers in 1990, city lawyers recommended.
Jose Maysonet Jr. was convicted and sentenced to life in prison after being investigated by Reynaldo Guevara, a former Chicago police detective accused of routinely framing suspects.
The proposed settlement is set to be considered Monday by the City Council’s Finance Committee. A final vote of the full City Council could come Nov. 14.
If approved, it would be the ninth lawsuit filed by Chicagoans who said they were the victims of Guevara’s misconduct to be resolved, for a total cost of more than $112 million to Chicago taxpayers.
With 39 lawsuits pending, that toll is sure to grow since city lawyers have little hope of winning any of those cases at trial because Guevara has refused to testify about his conduct as a Chicago detective, and many of the people he helped convict who have sued the city have been exonerated by judges.
Chicago taxpayers paid $2.53 million to defend Guevara and the other Chicago police officers named in Maysonet’s lawsuit, which was filed more than seven years ago.
Maysonet was 22, spoke no English and was intellectually disabled when he was arrested in connection with the slaying of Kevin Wiley, 26, and his brother, Torrence Wiley, 27, in May 1990 near Humboldt Park.
Guevara interrogated Maysonet for 17 hours based on a tip from another man who would later tell authorities that Guevara forced him to implicate Maysonet, according to court records.
Maysonet said Guevara beat him with a telephone book and flashlight, striking his head, body and testicles after covering up the only window into the interrogation room to prevent his conduct from being observed by others, according to court records. Maysonet said Guevara squeezed his genitals until he soiled himself and threatened to arrest his sister and girlfriend unless he confessed, according to court records.
During Guevara’s interrogation, detectives allowed Maysonet’s pregnant girlfriend to speak with him. Rosa Bella told him that police said that unless he cooperated, they would take away her two children from a previous relationship, records show.
Guevara and representatives of the Cook County state’s attorney ignored Maysonet’s requests to speak with an attorney, according to his lawsuit.
Maysonet confessed, implicating three other men, Justino Cruz, Christopher Gossens and Alfredo Gonzalez, in the double murder.
After convicting Gonzalez of two counts of first-degree murder, the jury in Gonzalez’s case found him eligible for the death penalty. However, the judge sentenced him to life in prison, citing his lack of a criminal records. Gonzalez has also been exonerated, and his suit against the city is pending.
Cruz pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 22 years in prison in return for testifying against Gonzalez, who prosecutors accused of firing the fatal shots.
Gossens, who opted for a bench trial, was acquitted. Maysonet, who was tried by a jury, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
No physical evidence linked Maysonet to the double murder, nor did the jury hear any eyewitness evidence that tied him to the murders.
In 2011, Maysonet challenged his conviction, telling a judge that his lawyer failed to tell him he was representing Guevara in child support proceedings while Maysonet was being tried for murder based on evidence gathered by Guevara.
In 2016, a judge vacated Maysonet’s conviction and prosecutors moved to retry him.
In 2017, Cook County prosecutors dropped all of the charges against Maysonet after five former Chicago police officers, including Guevara, told a judge they would invoke their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and refuse to answer questions in court.
The Cook County Board of Commissioners agreed in October 2024 to settle Maysonet’s lawsuit for $2.4 million.
WTTW News coverage of policing and police reform is supported by The Joyce Foundation.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
