IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS
COUNTY DEPARTMENT, CRIMINAL DIVISION

 

 

 

 

   

PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, 

Respondent, 

vs. N0. 94 CR 24313 
93? 
I  
ROBERTO ALMODOVAR and The Honorable 53' as
WILLIAM NEGRON, James B. Linn  
Judge Presiding. 
Defendants-Petitioners. ?a 
5;

 

 

MOTION TO PRESENT LIVE TESTIMONY OF WITNESSES ANDREW BOLTON,
GEORGE LA UREANO, AND MARCOS GONZALEZ

 

NOW COMES, ROBERTO ALMODOVAR, by and through his attorney, Jennifer
Bonjean of the Bonjean Law Group, PLLC and respectfully requests that this Court allow
Petitioner to present the live testimony of Andrew Bolton, George Laureano, and Marcos
Gonzalez regarding their personal knowledge Of the illegal and corrupt practices Of retired police
detective Reynaldo Guevara and speci?cally his pattern and practice of framing suspects and
accepting bribes to secure the release Of others.

I. In 2010, Robert Almodovar ?led a pro se motion for leave to ?le a successive
post-conviction petition, alleging that newly discovered evidence Of Detective Reynaldo
Guevara?s pattern and practice Of?agrant misconduct supported his claim Of actual innocence
and established an independent claim pursuant to Brady v. Maryland, 373 US. 83 (1963).

2. This Court denied Mr. Almodovar leave to ?le a successive petition and Mr.

Almodovar appealed to the Illinois Appellate Court.

3. In a published decision, the First District reversed this Court?s order, ?nding that
Petitioner had satis?ed the ?cause and prejudice? test with his allegations that Detective Guevara
in?uenced the identi?cation of Almodovar through improper identi?cation procedures and that
the cause must be remanded for further postconviction proceedings. People v. Almodovar, 2013
IL App. (lst) 101476 (lst Dist. 2013), 1175

4. The First District also concluded that Almodovar presented a strong claim of
actual innocence. Id. at 1W7. The appellate court observed that the allegations of Detective
Guevara?s pattern and practice of misconduct are ?newly discovered? since they were not
reasonably available to Almodovar at the time of his ?rst post-conviction hearing. 1d. at 1W8. The
court also found the pattern and practice evidence of Detective Guevara?s wrongdoing material
and noncumulative, insofar as they would negatively impact Detective Guevara?s credibility. Id.

5. With respect to the question of whether the newly discovered evidence is of such
a conclusive character that it would probably change the result on retrial, the appellate court
observed that the State?s case against Petitioner was ?tenuous.? 1d. at 1179. No physical evidence
linked Almodovar to the shooting, and the State?s conviction hinged on the impeached testimony
of two alleged eyewitnesses who had only a brief opportunity to see the perpetrator. Id. The
appellate court noted that had the jury known of Guevara?s history of improperly in?uencing
witnesses, it might have given more weight to Almodovar?s alibi witnesses and returned a
verdict of not guilty. 1d.

6. The First District also addressed the relevancy of the Guevara ?pattern and
practice" evidence and found that ?defendant?s allegations that Detective Guevara in?uenced
witnesses to provide identi?cation are relevant to whether witnesses in the case at bar were
similarly in?uenced, since such allegations, if true, would damage Detective Guevara?s

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credibility . . . the credibility of Detective is directly at issue with regard to the crucial question
of how he procured the evidence that led to defendant?s conviction. New evidence that attacks
his credibility on that crucial question would be highly material, and correspondingly, the lack of
such evidence would signi?cantly impede defendant?s ability to raise his claims of abuse by
Detective Guevara. 1d. at ?l68.

7. With the foregoing relevancy standard in mind, Petitioner Almodovar now seeks
to present live testimony from three additional witnesses with ?rst-hand knowledge regarding
Detective Guevara?s pattern and practice of improperly in?uencing witnesses.

A. Andrew Bolton

8. On October 26, 2015, undersigned Counsel and her associate, Ashley Cohen,
interviewed Andrew Bolton outside a building located 2715 W. Jackson Blvd. Mr. Bolton
con?rmed that he was the same Andrew Bolton who witnessed the murder of his boss, Ibrahim
Zayed, on November 24, 1996 at Zayed?s grocery store located at the corner of Karlov and
Potomac Avenues. Exhibit A - Affidavit of Ashley Cohen.

9. Bolton, 17 years old at the time, described the shooter to the police as a male
Hispanic, brown eyes, 25 to 30 years old, 6 feet and 1 inch tall, 170 pounds, wearing a bluejean
jacket and colorful knit cap that came down over the man?s eyebrows, was highly traumatized by
watching his employer shot in the chest and holding him in his arms as he died. Bolton created a
composite sketch of the suspect and added that the suspect also had a mustache.

10. The case was assigned to Detective Ernest Halvorsen in January, 1997. Halvorsen
and Guevara were partners. At some point, Halvorsen allegedly ?received information? that an
individual by the name of Angel Rodriguez was involved in the shooting and sent for a photo of
Rodriguez. Halvorsen allegedly compiled a photo array that he had Bolton view. Bolton

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purportedly identi?ed Rodriguez as the shooter in the photo array and again later in a live line?
up.

I 1. Angel Rodriguez was convicted of the murder of Zayed based solely on Bolton?s
testimony but the appellate court reversed his conviction, ?nding that Bolton?s uncorroborated
testimony alone was insuf?cient to prove Rodriguez?s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Exhibit 

- People v. Rodriguez, 312 Ill. App. 3d 920 (lst Dist. 2000).

12. Bolton concedes that Reynaldo Guevara was present during those identi?cation

A ?idavii of Ashley Cohen.

13. Detective Halvorsen?s testimony at Rodriguez?s trial failed to mention that his
partner, Reynaldo Guevara, was involved in the investigation but police reports con?rm that
Guevara was a detective assigned to the case and Bolton con?rms that Guevara was present for
the identi?cation procedures. Exhibit/1 Exhibit Supplemental Police Report. Indeed,
Bolton recognized Guevara from a photo displayed to him during the recent interview as the
actual person who told him who to identify.

14. Andrew Bolton?s testimony that Guevara told this young, traumatized teenager
that Rodriguez was the offender and pressured him into identifying Rodriguez is relevant

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                        Serious questions about ASA Sean Gallagher’s behavior