Brothers, wrongfully imprisoned for 20 Years, to be released from Menard Prison at 11 a.m. today

 

Menard, IL – James Harden and Jonathan Barr, brothers wrongfully sent to prison as teenagers, are expected to be released from Menard Prison at 11 a.m., today (Friday, Nov. 4) after over 20 years in prison.  Both were wrongfully convicted of murder and rape due to police-coerced confessions and testimony by other then-teenaged defendants.   

After DNA testing linked a serial rapist to the 1991 rape and murder of a 14-year-old southwest suburban girl, a Cook County Circuit Court judge yesterday set aside the convictions of Robert Taylor, James Harden and Jonathan Barr, who were convicted of the crime by confessions now known to be false.  All were teenagers when arrested, and are represented by the University of Chicago’s Exoneration Project, the Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth with private attorney Jennifer Blagg and the Innocence Project.  

The State’s Attorney’s Office in court yesterday said that it would be filing papers soon to vacate the convictions of Robert Lee Veal and Shainne Sharp who were also wrongfully convicted of the crime.

A Press Conference will be held at 11:15 AM, Friday, Nov. 4^th, outside of the Prison’s Main Entrance, 711 Kaskaskia Street, Menard, IL

Background

On November 19, 1991, Cateresa Matthews, a 14-year-old student at Rosa Parks Middle School in Dixmoor, IL, went missing.  Her body was discovered 19 days later on a footpath in a residential neighborhood near Interstate 57 in Dixmoor.  She had been raped and shot in the mouth.  Nearly a year after the murder, the Illinois State Police interrogated Veal, a 15-year-old student from the same school.  After 5 hours in police custody, Veal signed a written statement implicating himself, Taylor (15), Barr (15), Harden (17) and Sharp (17).  After 4 hours in custody, Taylor also signed a written confession.  Two days later, after 21 hours in custody, Sharp did the same. 

In June 1994, before any of the teenagers were tried, the Illinois State Police crime lab identified a lone male DNA profile from sperm recovered from the victim’s body.  Even though all 5 defendants were excluded as the source of the semen, the prosecution pushed forward rather than seeking the source of the semen recovered from this young victim.  Based on doubts about the truthfulness of the confessions, a juvenile court judge refused to charge Barr and Taylor in adult criminal court, a decision later reversed by an appellate court. Veal and Sharp pled guilty to first-degree murder and received a 20-year sentence (they were eligible for release just 7 years from the date of their pleas) in exchange for agreeing to testify against Harden, Barr and Taylor.  Over the next 2 years, all 3 were convicted, and each was sentenced to at least 80 years in prison.  All subsequent appeals were denied, including a post-conviction request for DNA testing. 

In August 2009, James Harden, through the University of Chicago Exoneration Project, again sought DNA testing, a request later joined by Robert Taylor through the Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth and private attorney Jennifer Blagg as well as Jonathan Barr through the Innocence Project.  For more than a year, the Dixmoor Police Department claimed that it was unable to locate the DNA and was threatened with contempt of court for failing to respond to a subpoena.  Eventually Judge Michele Simmons ordered the Dixmoor police to allow counsel to view the evidence storage areas and log books for themselves.  In short order, the Department informed the lawyers that they had finally located the evidence.  DNA testing uncovered a full male profile that was entered into the national DNA database of criminal offenders, matching serial violent offender Willie Randolph.

At the time of the crime, Randolph, 33, lived in the victim’s neighborhood and had recently been released on parole after serving a 20-year sentence for armed robbery.   He was apprehended by authorities on April 12, 2011.  Police questioned Randolph, whose semen had been found in the victim’s body, about the murder, and he denied having sex with Matthews.  Subsequently, defendants’ attorneys located another woman who says she was also raped by Randolph at the same exact location.

Brothers Barr and Harden were just 14 and 16 when Matthews was murdered.  Neither Barr nor Harden confessed to the crime and have always maintained their innocence.  Their father, James Harden, Sr., provided an alibi at each of their trials, testifying that he was home with the boys on the alleged day the victim was murdered.  Barr and Harden’s mother and father both passed away while they were incarcerated.    

Taylor was also just 14 at the time of the murder.   After a relentless interrogation, he signed a written statement confessing to the crime.  He recanted soon thereafter but was convicted at trial based on his statement and the testimony from Veal and Sharp.  Taylor plans to live with his father, Robert Taylor, Sr., who has stood by him throughout his two-decade fight to clear his name.  

James Harden is represented by Tara Thompson of the University of Chicago Law School Exoneration Project.  Robert Taylor is represented by Joshua Tepfer, Laura Nirider, and Steven Drizin of the Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth as well as private attorney Jennifer Blagg. Jonathan Barr is represented by Co-Director Peter Neufeld and Staff Attorney Craig Cooley of the Innocence Project, which is affiliated with Cardozo School of Law.