San Jose will pay $12 million to a man who spent 17 years in prison for a drive-by shooting, the city’s largest settlement in a police misconduct case.
The City Council approved the settlement on Tuesday after a federal judge rejected the city’s argument to dismiss a federal lawsuit filed by Lionel Rubalcava, who was convicted in a 2002 gang shooting. The case was convicted.
Council members approved the settlement but did not issue a statement or comment on the payment.
Rubalcava had been identified by three witnesses but was acquitted in May 2019 after they pleaded guilty and cell phone tracking evidence showed Rubalcava was driving to Hollister at the time of the shooting.
In the lawsuit, Rubalcava’s attorneys argued that officers Topui Fonua, Joe Perez and Steven Spearman ignored evidence exculpating Rubalcava’s case and “intentionally misrepresented witness testimony” leading to a conviction.
In her ruling denying the city’s request to dismiss the case, Judge Beth Labson Freeman wrote that the jury could infer that three San Jose police officers “fabricated police reports with the intent to deprive citizens of their right”. [Lionel] Rubalkava’s Constitutional Rights.
The case is scheduled to go to trial in August.
“The city of San Jose took the right action today given the clear evidence of serious police misconduct that we should have presented at trial,” said Amelia Green, one of Rubalcava’s attorneys. “Our Not only should the client not have been prosecuted, the city should have been held accountable for Lionel’s wrongful conviction long ago.”
After being released from Pleasant Valley State Prison, Rubalcava sued the city, saying detectives violated his civil and due process rights by ignoring evidence that showed he was innocent.
“We should be able to trust the police for our protection and safety,” Rubalcava said in a statement. “In my case, the San Jose Police Department singled me out and framed me for a crime I did not commit. I.”
Rubalcava was arrested three days after 19-year-old Raymond Rodriguez was shot and killed on April 5, 2002, leaving him paralyzed.
Police and prosecutors argued during the trial that the shootings were motivated by gang rivalry.
But one of the witnesses recanted his testimony at trial, and Rubalcava’s lawyers argued that the police motive for the shooting made no sense because he and Rodriguez allegedly belonged to different Norteño street gangs and were not rivals. .
Rodriguez and his mother both told a detective they did not believe Rubalcava was the shooter and that Rodriguez was a target of Sureno’s gang rivals.
Rubalcava was released after the Northern Innocence Project at Santa Clara University School of Law took over Rubalcava’s case. The Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office later ordered the Conviction Integrity Unit to re-examine the case, and other witnesses recanted their testimony. The office asked the High Court to quash Rubalkava’s 2019 conviction.
Rubalcava is represented by Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger.
Lawyer Nick Brustin said: “Lionel and the victims were served no good by the corrupt work of the police which resulted in the prosecution of an innocent man and the release of the real shooter.” Onnell’s case is yet another example of how racism affects the criminal legal system, where police are often willing to prosecute any young person of color.”
