San José can pay $12 million to a person who was imprisoned for 17 years for a drive-by taking pictures he didn’t commit, the most important settlement paid by town in a police misconduct case.
The settlement, authorized Tuesday by the Metropolis Council, got here after a federal choose rejected town’s arguments to dismiss a federal lawsuit filed by Lionel Rubalcava, who was convicted of a 2002 gang taking pictures.
Members of the council authorized the settlement however didn’t difficulty a press release or touch upon the cost.
Rubalcava had been recognized by three witnesses however was freed and exonerated in Might 2019 after they recanted and cellphone monitoring proof advised he was driving to Hollister on the time of the taking pictures.
Within the lawsuit, Rubalcava’s attorneys argued that law enforcement officials Topui Fonua, Joe Perez and Steven Spillman ignored proof that exonerated Rubalcava and “intentionally misrepresented witness statements” that led to the conviction.
In her ruling in opposition to town’s request to dismiss the case, Decide Beth Labson Freeman wrote {that a} jury may infer that three San José officers “falsified the police experiences for the aim of depriving [Lionel] Rubalcava of constitutional rights.”
The case was set to go to trial in August.
“Given the clear proof of great police misconduct we’d have placed on at trial, the cty of San José made the correct transfer right now,” mentioned Amelia Inexperienced, one in all Rubalcava’s attorneys. “Not solely ought to our consumer by no means have been prosecuted — town ought to have way back accepted accountability for Lionel’s wrongful conviction.”
After his launch from Nice Valley State Jail, Rubalcava sued town, arguing that his civil and due-process rights have been violated by detectives after they ignored proof pointing to his innocence.
‘We’re supposed to have the ability to belief law enforcement officials for our safety and security,” Rubalcava mentioned in a press release. “In my case, the San José Police Division singled me out and framed me for against the law I didn’t commit.”
Rubalcava was arrested three days after the April 5, 2002, taking pictures of 19-year-old Raymond Rodriguez, who was left partially paralyzed.
Police and prosecutors argued through the trial that the taking pictures had been prompted by a gang rivalry.
However one of many witnesses recanted their testimony at trial, and attorneys for Rubalcava argued that the motive police advised for the taking pictures didn’t make sense as a result of he and Rodriguez allegedly belonged to separate Norteño avenue gangs and weren’t rivals.
Rodriguez and his mom each advised a detective that they didn’t assume Rubalcava had been the shooter and that Rodriguez had been focused by rival Sureño gang members.
Rubalcava was freed after the Northern Innocence Undertaking at Santa Clara College College of Regulation picked up his case. The Santa Clara district legal professional’s workplace then ordered its conviction integrity unit to reexamine the case, and the opposite witnesses recanted their testimony. The workplace requested the superior court docket to vacate Rubalcava’s conviction in 2019.
Rubalcava was represented by attorneys with Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger.
“Neither Lionel nor the victims have been served by the corrupt police work that led to an harmless man being prosecuted and the true shooter going free,” mentioned legal professional Nick Brustin. “Lionel’s case is yet one more instance of how racism infects the felony authorized system, during which police too typically are prepared to prosecute any obtainable younger man of colour.”
