June 18--Lake County authorities on Thursday officially acknowledged the innocence of a man who spent about 20 years in prison for rape and abduction before he was cleared by DNA and freed in March.
With no objection from Lake County prosecutors, Judge Victoria Rossetti granted Angel Gonzalez a certificate of innocence in the 1994 crime. The state's attorney's office was represented at the hearing by Stephen Scheller, who prosecuted Gonzalez at trial.
Outside court, Scheller shook Gonzalez's hand and looked him in the eye as he said, "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."
A certificate of innocence clears the path to a case's expungement and financial compensation from the state. The documents also can be useful to former inmates in the lawsuits that almost inevitably follow exonerations. Gonzalez has not filed a suit.
Gonzalez, 41, spent 20 years in prison for the abduction and rape of a woman in Waukegan before new DNA evidence in the case indicated he was not one of the two men who committed the crime. Lake County State's Attorney Mike Nerheim said in early March that the new genetic test results made it "very clear" that Gonzalez had been wrongfully convicted, and the prosecutor moved swiftly to pave the way for Gonzalez's release from prison.
In court Thursday, Gonzalez, bald with a goatee and mustache, stood in bluejeans and a dark blazer and listened to a Spanish-language interpreter during the brief hearing. He showed little emotion before leaving court and hugging friends, his brother and his lawyers.
"Finally, feeling free again," he said.
Attorney Vanessa Potkin from the New York-based Innocence Project said outside court, "He wasn't mentally free without the expungement."
Gonzalez was the latest in a string of men who were accused of rape or murder under Nerheim's predecessor, Michael Waller, but were later cleared by DNA evidence.
dhinkel@tribpub.com
