Man Wins Millions In Wrongful Conviction

A former Humboldt Park man has been awarded more than $21 million in a wrongful conviction case against a Chicago police detective — marking the largest ever verdict award for wrongful conviction in Chicago history, attorneys announced Monday.

The jury found that Chicago Police Det. Reynaldo Guevara framed Juan Johnson for the 1989 murder of Ricardo Fernandez, according to a release from the law firm of Loevy and Loevy.

Johnson was awarded $21 million in compensatory damages on Friday night and $15,000 in punitive damages awarded Monday afternoon, the release said.

Johnson was arrested at age 19 and was originally sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder, the release said.

Johnson ended up serving 11 and-a-half years in prison, much of it in maximum security prison before the Appellate Court reversed the denial of a post-conviction petition and a jury acquitted him in a 2004 retrial, the release said.