A Cook County judge has been ordered to free a Chicago man from prison as he appeals an earlier ruling that sought to keep him locked up for a 2001 murder despite evidence supporting his innocence and assurances from prosecutors that they wouldn't retry the case.
Judge Angela Petrone ruled in June that she wouldn't overturn Kevin Jackson’s conviction in an alleged gang-related shooting at a South Side gas station that left a man dead and another wounded.
Petrone's ruling came after special prosecutors appointed to review the conviction found "powerful evidence that Jackson may be innocent." Meanwhile, Cook County prosecutors have indicated they wouldn't oppose a decision to overturn the case, or seek to retry him.
In this image taken from a video, Cook County Judge Angela Petrone presents her decision in the resentencing of Adolfo Davis during his hearing Monday, May 4, 2015, in Chicago. The judge resentenced Davis to the same life term without the possibility of parole that he received at age 14, saying he had grown from a boy who took part in a double murder into a dangerous and violent adult. (WGN-TV via AP, Pool)
AP
Jackson's attorney's quickly filed a notice to appeal, calling Petrone's ruling “severely irrational and unjust.”
A three-judge appellate court panel heard arguments earlier this week. On Wednesday, the justices sent the case back to Petrone to hold a hearing "to determine appropriate and reasonable conditions for Mr. Jackson’s immediate release pending the resolution of this appeal.”
In the order, Justices Mary Mikva, Sharon Oden Johnson and Raymond Mitchell wrote that Jackson should be released because his appeal was likely to result in reversal of Petrone's ruling or an order for a new trial. The justices also noted that prosecutors didn't oppose Jackson’s motion for release after he had spent more than two decades behind bars.
Jackson’s attorneys, Brandon Clark and Elizabeth Bacon, called the order “extraordinarily good news” and said they hope to see their client released as early as next week.
Jackson, 43, has long maintained his innocence in the May 6, 2001, shooting at a Citgo gas station in Englewood. He was convicted in 2003 and sentenced to 45 years in prison.
He has since accused retired Chicago Police Detective Brian Forberg of pressuring witnesses to make false statements against him, some of whom later recanted. Jackson’s lawyers have argued no other evidence connects their client to the crime.
In 2020, the case got a second look by a specialized unit in the Cook County state’s attorney’s office that reviews defendants' claims that they were wrongfully convicted.
Nancy Adduci, the Conviction Integrity Unit's former director, wrote in a memo that "nothing requires a change of ... course" after reviewing the case, adding that "this matter requires no further review."
Adduci’s assessment was later criticized in a report by special prosecutors appointed to review the case after Jackson’s attorneys learned Forberg was married to a former assistant state’s attorney assigned to Adduci's unit.
“This case presents a microcosm of the many ways in which a police investigation into a serious violent crime can fail,” the special prosecutors wrote in their report.
Adduci was fired last year amid allegations she hid evidence about the police investigation into the 2011 murder of Chicago Police Officer Clifton Lewis. She has since sued the office over her termination, alleging she was discriminated against because of her age and race.
A hearing date for Petrone to address the appellate court’s order and set the conditions for Jackson's release had not been scheduled as of Thursday afternoon.
Petrone has previously denied motions to vacate convictions in other cases where prosecutors said they could no longer support the case — decisions that at least twice were later overturned by the appellate court, according to Injustice Watch.
