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City of Chicago Announces Major Settlement to Resolve 16 Wrongful Conviction Lawsuits Tied to Reynaldo Guevara

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CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson and Acting Corporation Counsel Renee Hatcher today announced another historic mass settlement resolving 16 police misconduct lawsuits against former Chicago Police Department (CPD) Detective Reynaldo Guevara brought by 17 individuals whose murder convictions were subsequently vacated. These Guevara-related lawsuits, with the earliest filed in 2018 and most recent filed in 2025, involve events that occurred as far back as 1987 and constituted a significant financial risk to the City's finances.

"It is vitally important to continue building upon this innovative approach, where warranted and appropriate, to resolve a grouping of reversed-conviction cases involving the same defendant—in a process recognizing both the importance of humane justice while safeguarding taxpayer dollars," said Mayor Brandon Johnson. "While previous administrations turned a blind eye to these abuses and kicked the can down the road, we are confronting this challenge head on, meeting the obligation we have to bring some level of restitution to those who have been harmed and their families."

The settlement of these 16 cases, resolving allegations of misconduct from the 1980s and 1990s and totaling $260,814,000 will, following City Council approval, be paid over two years commencing in 2027.  It will offer a pathway to closure, reducing the potential for adverse verdicts, lessening long-term legal expenses and easing fiscal uncertainty.

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The plaintiffs—who've collectively spent 383.55 years in custody, both pre-and post-trial conviction—allege they were wrongfully convicted of murder based on misconduct by Reynaldo Guevara and other former and deceased CPD officers. All of these plaintiffs' convictions have been vacated and the charges against them dismissed.

"Bringing these cases to a responsible closure reflects the deliberative approach the Department of Law continues to take to inherited litigation, which includes carefully assessing the City's financial exposure, resolving the highest-risk, highest-value cases, and eliminating prolonged uncertainty for the City and the parties involved," said Acting Corporation Counsel Renee Hatcher. "Looking ahead, we will evaluate and build on what worked well in these matters to best serve the City and the taxpayer."

If City Council approves this Guevara-related mass settlement, together with the Watts Global Settlement, to date in 2026, the City's strategic efforts will have brought closure to 72% of all reversed-conviction matters.

The settlement is projected to save $300 to $400 million in potential exposure with trial verdicts, plaintiffs' attorneys fees, and defense costs.

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"As City attorneys, we strive everyday and in every case to reach resolutions that best serve the taxpayer," said Jessica Felker, Deputy Corporation Counsel for Federal Claims Review and lead negotiator for the Guevara settlement. "This settlement achieves that goal."

Though the settlement does not cover all Guevara cases, it is a large step forward. Unlike the Watts litigation, each Guevara case involves murder investigations and has unique, complex fact patterns. Also, many more plaintiffs' firms are involved in the Guevara litigation. The 16 selected cases for this mass settlement involved one plaintiff's firm and were derived through many months of negotiation between the parties.

Through its reforms and federal consent decree compliance efforts, the Chicago Police Department has developed and updated its policies to better detect and prevent the type of misconduct alleged in these cases.

"Through our reform efforts, the Chicago Police Department has implemented guardrails to prevent the misconduct that undermines the lifesaving work our officers are doing in our communities each day," said Interim CPD Superintendent Fred Waller. "These cases are not representative of where we are today as a department. We have strengthened supervision, training and policy to hold ourselves accountable and continuously build trust within our communities."

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