Juan Rivera $20 million Wrongful conviction settlement

Authorities have reached a $20 million settlement with a man who spent 20 years in prison before he was cleared by DNA of the rape and murder of an 11 year-old girl.



The ABA Journal reports that Rivera was exonerated in a 1992 child-murder case after being tried and convicted three times.  The amount that will be paid to Rivera may be the largest ever for an individual in a wrongful conviction case in Illinois.  "No amount of money could ever sum up to 20 years in prison," stated Rivera who was only 19 when he was forced to confess to a crime that he did not commit.



According to The National Registry of Exonerations, ten weeks after 11-year old Holly Staker was raped and murdered in Waukegan, IL, a tip from an informant led investigators to focus on Rivera, a former special education student.  At the time, Rivera was on electronic home monitoring due to a burglary conviction.  In October 2012, Rivera filed a federal wrongful conviction lawsuit against Lake County law enforcement official alleging that they framed him.  The lawsuit settled for $20 million, $1 million for every year Rivera spent in prison.