Brothers Juan and Rosendo Hernandez walked out of the doors of the Dixon Correctional Center shortly after noon Friday as free men after spending 25 years of their life locked up for a crime they say they didn’t commit.
In a video released by their attorneys, family members cheered and ran toward the brothers as they were released.
“Free at last,” their mother said repeatedly through tears.
A day earlier, Cook County Judge Joanne Rosado overturned both brothers’ murder convictions in a 1997 shooting, and prosecutors said they would not pursue their case further.
The brothers maintain they were framed by disgraced former Chicago police detective Reynaldo Guevara in an act of revenge at the behest of another former Chicago cop — Officer Joseph Miedzianowski — who federal prosecutors have called the “most corrupt” police officer ever prosecuted at the downtown federal courthouse.
At a hearing last month, a witness testified that Guevara was going to help Miedzianowski — a former gang unit detective — get Juan Hernandez for stealing marijuana from a dealer who worked for Miedzianowski.
Miedzianowski is serving a life sentence for running a drug trafficking and protection racket during the 1990s.
In a statement after the hearing, prosecutors noted the numerous allegations of misconduct against Guevara.
“Based on our review of this case, which included allegations of misconduct involving Detective Guevara, we agree with the Judge’s decision and noted on the record that we will not pursue a new trial,” the state’s attorney’s office said.
The two men will now seek a certificate of innocence in their cases, their attorneys said, so they can be fully exonerated.
More than 20 people convicted in cases tied to Guevara have been exonerated, according to the Exoneration Project. Guevara has been repeatedly accused of engaging in misconduct, including fabricating evidence and police reports, and coercing witnesses to make identifications, sometimes using violence, according to court records.
