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RELEASE: "John Galvan and Arthur Almendarez walk free in Chicago after 35 years in prison for arson," published by The Innocence Project, on July 15, 2022.
SUB-HEADING: "Both men were convicted based on coerced confessions they maintain involved the use of police torture."
GIST: "Today, Innocence Project client John Galvan was released on an “I bond” from Cook County Jail in Chicago, Illinois, after spending 35 years in prison for a crime that he did not commit.
Mr. Galvan was released with his co-defendant Arthur Almendarez, the latter of whom is represented by Joshua Tepfer of The Exoneration Project.
Both men have steadfastly maintained their innocence over the last three and a half decades for a 1986 fire that killed two men in Chicago.
“We have been waiting for this day for 35 years,” Mr. Almendarez’s sister Laura Guevara told CBS News, while waiting outside the jail for her brother to be released. “It’s overdue.”
Two Chicago Men Exonerated Based on DNA and Coerced False Confession During Burge Era
Mr. Galvan and Mr. Almendarez — who were teenagers at the time and never given pre-trial bond — were convicted and arrested in 1987 of aggravated arson and first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole.
Mr. Galvan was convicted based on a coerced confession he maintains involved the use of police torture — including being handcuffed to a wall and beaten — and invalidated arson science testimony by a Chicago arson investigator. Similar evidence and misconduct were used to convict Mr. Almendarez.
“It took 35 years, but today Mr. Galvan and Mr. Almendarez finally walked free, and were reunited with their families. At ages 18 and 20, their lives were just beginning when their freedom was stolen. They have shown such determination and strength over the last three and a half decades. We will continue to fight for them until they are fully exonerated,” said Tara Thompson, Mr. Galvan’s Innocence Project attorney.
Upon their release today, Mr. Galvan and Mr. Almendarez were awaiting a new trial granted to them by the First Judicial Appellate Court on two occasions in 2019 and 2022.
The entire release can be read at:
john-galvan-walks-free-in-chicago-after-35-years-in-prison
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See also earlier 2009 Innocence Project release on arson and "bad science: "The Dallas Morning News yesterday investigated the forensics behind arson convictions and asked – in the wake of the Cameron Todd Willingham case — whether there might be others in prison based on false arson analysis. Although arson investigation techniques have improved significantly over the last two decades and become more scientifically supported, attorneys and scientists say they still see arson myths perpetuated inside and outside of courtrooms. "Accidental fires being turned into arsons is going on all the time," said Gerald Hurst, a Cambridge-educated chemist who was the chief scientist for the nation's largest explosive manufacturer. Cameron Todd Willingham was sentenced to death in Texas in 1992 for allegedly setting a fire that killed his three young children. Many of the investigation techniques used by arson experts at Willingham’s trial had been debunked years before he was convicted, but this didn’t come to light at his trial. Although evidence that Willingham’s conviction was based on flawed arson analysis was received by the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole before his schedule execution date, the board did not act on the report and he was executed in 2004. An exhaustive new report in New Yorker deconstructs every piece of evidence at Willingham’s trial and shows that he was innocent.
Learn more about Willingham’s case and read the full New Yorker story here
There are 742 people in prison in Texas for arson, and about 275 are convicted of the crime each year.
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
