E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
AP
Juan Rivera had been convicted three times in the stabbing of Holly Staker, 11, who was babysitting in a Waukegan, Ill., home in 1992.
CHICAGO -- After having to jog in place inside his Illinois prison cell for the last 20 years, Juan Rivera is now free to run. But finding time to do so is easier said than done.
The 39-year-old man was released from prison last week after a Chicago appeals court overturned his life sentence in the 1992 rape and murder of 11-year-old Holly Staker, blaming authorities for not having enough evidence.
Detectives in Waukegan, Ill., where the baby sitter was killed, are investigating the case again.
Rivera talked about his life since his release from Stateville Correctional Center near Joilet, Ill., in an interview with the Chicago Tribune on Friday.
"I always knew I was a lifer, but I never lived as a lifer. The only thing that was incarcerated was my body. My spirit and my mind was free," he told the Tribune. "Now that I'm free, it's going to be better than ever."
He shared his experiences from his trial, his time in prison and his vision for the days ahead.
Rivera, who is married, has taken steps forward in his effort to adjust to life after decades behind bars. The strict vegan has rented a two-bedroom apartment, shopped at a Target for the first time in his life, and purchased his first outfit: running shoes, jogging pants and a polo shirt, according to the Tribune.
Rivera told the Chicago newspaper he hopes to attend college and educate the public about wrongful convictions.
Click here to read the original story.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
Leave a Comment:
Another person people wanted to murder. Good thing he wasn't in Texas. He'd been dead long ago.
I shared an apartment with "Jimmy", a man who served 7 years in jail,after being convicted of a crime which was committed by another man from his neighborhood. This fellow lost his wife, most contact with his kids,he will never find a decent job, and most of the opportunities which he had in his youth are forever gone.
He bumped into the actual criminal while he was still on parole, a criminal who knew that "Jimmy" took the hit and served 7 years....fellow averted his eyes,said nothing.
"Jimmy" is a convicted felon, unable to find work,now, and didn't dare smack the actual criminal around as "Jimmys" parole would have been revoked and he'd have to serve out another 2.5 years for a crime of which he was innocent.
The USA has only 5% of the Worlds population, yet,of ALL the people in all of the jails in the entire WORLD, 25% of people in jail are Americans,serving time in American jails......are our laws unjust, or are Americans more prone to being criminals than any other peoples in the World ?
True.
And the ones in power, (the rich and the white) don't have the guts to admit that one dead minority is as good as another and actual guilt is incidental.
Our judicial system is far from perfect; sometimes the innocent get convicted and the guilty are acquitted. This is one of the reasons I have never supported the death penalty, you can't bring an innocent person back to life, if you find out they were wrongly convicted. You can let a live person out of prison and give them a chance at life, even though you can't give the years behind bars back.
Way to go 31..make it a racist conversation.
Wow, what a positive outlook on life, especially after being wrongfully incarcerated. It must be hard, most people would be angry at the injustice. Glad he finally can run freely, as he loves doing.
No thanks to women who accuse those that are not guilty.
I know exactly what you mean Bypolar, first hand. Back in high school I was still in the Mormon clique, as I had been raised Mormon throughout childhood. A girl I was friends with had sex with a guy I was friends with. They did not use protection and once her parents discovered she was pregnant, she accused him of raping her. His applications to college were denied and last I heard, he moved to Utah to live with his uncle and aunt. His life is completely screwed over now.
Great, now we have to deal with two misogynists-thanks, WA-Moscow and Bypolar2all!
The girl did not falsely accuse anyone, she was murdered.
The other cost of this travesty is that the REAL murderer is out there and possibly killed again. Do the prosecutors ever think of this? I guess they just really care about their own aggrandizement.
His conviction was overturned because, as the judge said, "The authorities didn't have enough evidence." Apparently the jury thought otherwise. Also, NOWHERE did the judge say he was innocent. There is a good chance the system just freed a violent rapist and murderer because of a liberal judge's misplaced idealism.
conservative judges also know the meaning of 'didn't have enough evidence'.
Gary your bias is showing... also your lack of intelligence.
And that Casey Anthony piece of shyt runs free. She needs lethal injection, after torture.
Yeah, and those darned Cardinals won the world series. What does Casey Anthony have to do with a convicted child rapist/murderer being freed?
In the United States I live in it is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law! Casey Anthony was "NOT" proven guilty the justice system let down the American people again but the law is the law so learn to deal with it.
Gary..you are right, Anthony has nothing to do with this story...And the Indians won't win in my lifetime!
Yet another man thrown in jail for a rape he never committed. The laws are going to change girls.
Bypolar2all - it's time to take your medication.
@Noelle-588175
Enough with the idiotic posts before you earn yourself a suspension.
Chris go back and read some of Bypolar2all's posts, he a very angry 'young?' man, and possibly woman.
This guy i hope gets millions for his misfortune. Man what a nightmare to to go through being in prison when your totally innocent.
The problem with that is WE have to pay it. Not the DA.
People, you have to look at both sides of every situation. You cannot rely on the media, the defense attorneys, etc. for accurate informatin
Agreed, but you don't automatically believe the prosecuting attorneys either, do you?
Any attempt to educate the public about wrongful conviction is as useless as the time wasted in prison. Before you can educate the public on this you must first remove the lynch mob mentality that allows conviction of the first defenseless person law enforcement comes in contact with. Neither prosecutors nor the public care about justice. Both consider a person guilty before they have any evidence to prove it.
Folks-For those of you posting re: the possibility of "a convicted rapist being set free" I suggest you read the entire article first. Here is an excerpt: "Asked whether he's angry at the Lake County prosecutors and police who jailed him and resisted his release — even after DNA evidence indicated the girl was raped by another man — he voiced only sadness about the justice system.
"Am I mad? No. I'm disappointed that mankind would do this," he said."
I also suggest you read Karen Alexander's book "The New Jim Crow" or "Golden Gulag" by Ruth Wilson Gilmore. Please educate yourselves re: our injustice system, the prison industrial complex, and just how many billions of dollars are being made by incarcerating a disproportionately high percentage of people of color in this country.
And before you go off on your racist slant about how people of color are incarcerated at a higher rate, maybe you should just stop and THINK. FACTS are they also commit a FAR higher percentage of crime. No one forces them to do crime. It's the fact they they CHOSE to that leads some people to be racist due the glorification of crimes by some people of color. And do NOT accuse me of being racist, I have friends of every color. I'm simply pointing out the facts, some of which my friends of color hate themselves because they feel that these very facts make their own lives harder.
Everybody who had one single little thing to do with this injustice needs to serve 20 years...cops, lawyers, jurors, judges, prosecutors, accusers, witnesses, every damn cop who mistreated him while he was inside, EVERYBODY...and even that isn't enough.
Have you noticed that the state mainly accuses family and friends first of murder and rapes? To heck with the outsiders that do the crime.
When the cops chased him, we paid the cost.
While he was on trial, we paid the cost.
While he was in prison, we paid the cost
We will pay any settlement he gets.
The DA NEVER has to pay. We should he give a damn?
Never allow yourself to become a beneficiary of someones will. Because.............
When that person dies:
The insurance company make you a killer, so they don't have to pay.
The cops will make you the killer. Guilty or not.
The DA will make you the killer. Guilty or not.
And even if later, you and found not guilty, it'll take months or years to get out.
DON'T BUY LIFE INSURANCE.
If only we used the Bible as a guide.No man is to found guity except at the hands of TWO EYE WITNESSES. Of course,they didn't have DNA when that was written. But I don't believe DNA is acceptable as "irrefutable" proof either. Lots of times the "comunist police Party" Plants evidence , or distorts evidence. The other thing as repeatedly pointed out by Ron Paul : Why does this country have so many stupid laws against everything ? And why are there so many more people in Prison per capita , in this so-called "Free" country , than in ANY other coutry , even comunist Russia , china , Cuba , etc. ? You are not "innocent until proven guilty" in the USA either. They accuse you of a crime , then,with no trial or judge or anything, they put you in jail , so you have absolutely no way to defend yourself , collect evidence,find the right attorney,etc. Then they railroad you through the corrupt "court system" where retarded morons they call jurors just think "the police are always right". And find you guilty,without actually listening to the so called witnesses, who usually really never witnessed anything. Once they decide they need another cell filled,they will find somebody without enough money to get a really good lawyer,and railroad them into it. Casey Anthony was never found Guilty but how much time did she spend in jail ?? And she was "tried by the news media," and still is being persecuted because of them." O.J. Simpson was found "not Guilty". But he spent a year in Prison , all the time during his trial. Need I go on ? If you are "innocent until proven guilty" you should not be "put in a jail cell".Or be "held under house arrest" Until it has in fact been proven you are guilty. This would allow you to Provide for your own defense. Talk to people who you saw,and who saw you , that could prove you couldn't have commited the crime. But that's not the case. There is no such thing as "innocent until proven guilty " in the USA. The "legal injustice system" needs to completely overhauled. Every day we see "police officers ?" Assault our citizens, murder people for no apparent reason , spray mace on Innocent people doing absolutely nothing,etc. This looks more like Communist China at Tianamen Square,just with no tanks present. How can we allow this atrocious behavior by our Police officers , then condemn China and other countries for their so - called abuses of power ?
How can police expect anyone to respect them when they treat people like this in broad daylight , in front of cameras every where,and it's constantly in the news ?
S&C@work
Excellent, EXCELLENT, comment!!!
There are forces at work here, but I don't think we can blame Commies. I'll even resist the urge to blame Bush...