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An appellate court on Friday night reversed the conviction of an Illinois man who had spent the past 19 years in prison for the rape and murder of an 11-year-old in a Chicago suburb in 1992, according to local media reports.
In a 24-page ruling, the Illinois Appellate Court tossed out Juan Rivera’s conviction and said the evidence does not go beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed the crimes. Rivera was serving out a life sentence at Stateville Prison in Joliet, Ill., according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Rivera was convicted three times over the murder and rape. The appeals court said in its unanimous ruling his last conviction in 2009 is “unjustified and cannot stand” due to the lack of evidence, reported the newspaper.
According to the Times, prosecutors are also barred from taking him to trial over the girl’s death.
“I’m not the person who committed this murder,” Rivera told NBC Chicago several months ago. “I refuse to plead guilty to something I didn’t commit. I’d rather die in prison as an innocent man.”
