Man jailed in double-homicide case sues Chicago, says surveillance showed a different shooter
A man who says he spent nearly two years in jail, based on false statements for a double-murder he did not commit, has sued the City of Chicago and 13 police detectives.
A nearby surveillance camera caught the shooter in the act of committing the June 17, 2012 crime on the city’s Northwest Side, and the man looked nothing like him, says plaintiff Ramiro Bahena in the Cook County Circuit Court suit he filed on Wednesday.
Detectives, however, allegedly leaned on a witness who saw a man running away to identify the suspect as Bahena and “falsely indicated” on police reports that the witness picked Bahena out of a lineup, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.
No trial was ever held: Prosecutors dismissed the case against Bahena after interviewing him in March of last year. There was only one witness against him and no physical or forensic evidence that tied Bahena to the crime, the suit says.
It alleges malicious prosecution by the defendants, who are also accused of withholding exculpatory evidence.
A spokesman for the city’s law department declined the newspaper’s request for comment, explaining in an email that Chicago has not yet had a chance to review the suit.
It appears that whoever did fatally shoot Santiago Delgado, 46, and Jaime Ocampo, 32, has not been charged.
Related coverage:
Chicago Tribune (2012): “Second of 3 people shot in Cragin neighborhood dies “
