Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, who was viewed as being soft on crime, is leaving office and naming and shaming several police officers on her way out the door.
The retiring Illinois attorney released a list of more than 150 law enforcement officers whom her office deemed so unreliable that prosecutors refuse to call them as witnesses. The “Do Not Call List” includes approximately 180 law enforcement officers, some currently serving and others who have since retired. The list comprises mostly police officers out of the Chicago Police Department, but officers from suburban departments are included as well.
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A few outliers on the list include officers from the Illinois State Police, Cook County Sheriff’s Office, Cook County Department of Corrections, and the University of Chicago.
Foxx released the list on Monday, saying the decision to make the list public was part of the office’s commitment to the Brady Giglio policy. “Brady Giglio” refers to two landmark Supreme Court cases, Brady v. Maryland and Giglio v. United States, that established a precedent that prosecutors are constitutionally obligated to disclose impeachment information to the defense in a case.
Impeachment information is evidence the defense can use to question the reliability or credibility of a government witness, including law enforcement officers.
“The culture that allowed disreputable law enforcement officers to testify in court propelled Cook County’s reputation as the wrongful conviction capital of the country,” Foxx said in a statement. “Releasing our ‘Do Not Call List’ and updating our internal policy regarding witness disclosure are necessary steps to improve the office’s prosecutorial integrity and help rebuild public trust in our criminal justice system.”
Some names on the list are well known throughout Chicago. Officers Reynaldo Guevara and Ronald Watts have been in the news recently, as several convictions stemming from their investigations have been vacated.
Guevara, in particular, has been linked to dozens of wrongful conviction claims during his time as a Chicago police detective. He is facing federal lawsuits, and the city of Chicago has paid $76 million to hire lawyers and settle cases related to his old cases.
In 2022, the court vacated Juan and Rosendo Hernandez after serving over 26 years in prison for a 1997 shooting murder they did not commit. In May, a judge ruled the brothers had been framed, and they received a certificate of innocence and an apology.
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In February, the National Criminal Justice Association marked that prosecutors had moved to dismiss at least 226 convictions that involved Watts, who served as a Chicago police sergeant. Watts was arrested in 2021 on federal charges of stealing government funds from an undercover informant after years of him being suspected of extortion and planting guns and drugs.
To view the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office “Do Not Call List,” click here.
