Edwin Davila Exonerated, Becomes 35th Guevara Exoneree

Yesterday morning, Edwin Davila joined nearly three dozen other people exonerated of false homicide charges put together by notorious retired Chicago Police Detective Reynaldo Guevara. Mr. Davila was framed for a 1995 murder despite, according to his petition for post-conviction relief, having an alibi, there being no physical evidence connecting him to the crime scene,…

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The Wrong Answer to Solving Youth Crime in School

Josh Tepfer, EP Attorney November 3rd, 2022 I live in Oak Park, which prides itself on being a progressive village just west of the City limits. Our Village is in discussions to up the police presence at both our public high school and the elementary schools by reviving an intergovernmental agreement (IGA). Amongst other things,…

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Fathers and Kids

Josh Tepfer, EP Attorney October 17th, 2022 On Thursday afternoon I watched my 14-year-old daughter’s final Freshman year tennis match. Up until this year’s tennis team, my daughter had never been a serious athlete. But in the beginning of this calendar year she decided she wanted to be on the high school tennis team and…

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Marcellous Pittman Exonerated After 21 Years of Wrongful Conviction

Congratulations to Mr. Pittman on his exoneration after 21 years of wrongful conviction. Marcellous Pittman was framed and wrongfully convicted of shooting a police officer in 2001. When his name surfaced as someone who lived in the area and news reported him as a suspect, Mr. Pittman did what most innocent teenagers with strong family…

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David Wright Freed After 28 Years in Prison

After spending 28 years being wrongfully incarcerated, David Wright was released from custody last Friday, two weeks after his conviction was vacated on August 30 at the conclusion of a post-conviction hearing. Wright was just 17 in 1994 when he was arrested for a crime he did not commit. He turns 46 tomorrow. He came…

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Wrongful Conviction Day 2022

We recently celebrated the 9th annual #WrongfulConvictionDay! To recognize this important day, we gathered with the community of impacted individuals for discussions, food, games, and a resource fair. The #collectiveimpact of wrongful convictions is felt by so many and continues long after release. We hope to continue to support this incredible community with more events…

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‘Exoneration Day’: Families Celebrate Mass Exoneration

“For Chicago, this was Exoneration Day.”— Marissa Perlman, CBS 2 News “A mass exoneration event like no other.”— Charlie Wojciechowski, NBC 5 News “A monumental day for the Illinois justice system.”— Irika Sargent, CBS 2 News On August 9, 2022, exonerees, families and supporters celebrated the unprecedented mass exoneration of eight wrongfully convicted victims of…

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Watts Team Scandal

Disgraced former Chicago Police Sergeant Ronald Watts and his team of corrupt officers are responsible for hundreds of false drug convictions. To date, more than 200 such convictions have been thrown out in the largest mass exoneration in Chicago history. Those victims, later adjudicated innocent, were sentenced to over 274 years in prison. Joshua Tepfer,…

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