Cook County prosecutors on Wednesday vacated the conviction of the alleged gunman in the 2011 murder of Chicago Police Officer Clifton Lewis, a year after charges were dropped against the other defendants.
The decision marks the latest fallout in a case tainted by accusations of misconduct by police and prosecutors, and it paves the way for Alexander Villa to leave prison just over a year after he was handed a life sentence for fatally shooting Lewis.
Villa had been jailed since his arrest in 2014 and was awaiting sentencing last year when the Cook County state’s attorney’s office dropped charges against his two co-defendants following a flurry of motions alleging evidence had been hidden.
Judge Carol Howard’s courtroom at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse was packed Wednesday, with Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara and more than a dozen police union members seated on one side of the gallery.
Villa’s supporters, some wearing T-shirts with his mugshot under the words “wrongfully convicted,” sat on the other side. Villa watched from Lawrence Correctional Center in downstate Sumner.
The police contingent walked out, with some officers exchanging words with Villa’s supporters. Cook County sheriff’s officers separated the groups on the elevators after the hearing, and Catanzara shouted at Villa’s relatives as they addressed reporters in the courthouse lobby.
Villa’s sister extended sympathy to Lewis’s family.
“Most people would view this as a celebratory moment, but it’s sad,” Melissa Villa told reporters. “It’s not a case where one person wins and one person loses. Everyone loses here. My brother lost, (Lewis’) family lost.”
‘We fell short,’ Foxx’s office says
Lawyers for Lewis’ family had sought to delay the move to drop the case against Villa, and they managed to briefly stall Wednesday’s hearing.
Jim McKay, one of the family’s attorneys, said his clients were entitled to a “meaningful conversation” with State’s Attorney Kim Foxx before any decision to drop the case was made.
During a two-hour recess, Foxx and officials from her office spoke by phone with Lewis’ sister, the family’s attorneys and an FOP representative.
When Judge Carol Howard called the case again, prosecutors announced that Villa’s conviction was being vacated and the charges against him were being dropped. The decision was based on a defense motion alleging prosecutors had withheld evidence — a recurring claim.
In a statement, Foxx’s office said the charges were dismissed because the office had learned after Villa’s sentencing there was evidence that “had not been previously or timely provided to the defense.”
“We acknowledge the pain and frustration this causes the family of Officer Lewis, who deserves to be remembered for his dedicated service to the Chicago Police Department and the city of Chicago rather than for procedural errors that have marred our pursuit of justice and accountability,” the state’s attorney’s office said.
“While this is heartbreaking, prosecutors have the responsibility to not only find justice for the harmed but also uphold the constitutional rights of the accused. In this instance, we fell short.”
Addressing reporters in the courthouse lobby, Catanzara blasted Foxx and said the decision to toss the case was “disgusting.” He urged Eileen O’Neill Burke, the Democratic candidate looking to replace Foxx, to bring new charges should she win the November election.
“We are going to support Cliff Lewis and his family until this is over,” Catanzara said. “They have waited far too long for justice — justice they thought they got.”
Cases fall apart
Villa was found guilty in 2019. But the lawyers he hired ahead of his sentencing uncovered a trove of evidence they say was improperly held back from files turned over to his trial team.
Among the purported missing evidence was a map of cellphone data compiled by the FBI that showed Villa and his co-defendants, Edgardo Colon and Tyrone Clay, were not at the crime scene when Lewis was killed.
Also missing were records related to “Operation Snake Doctor,” a probe targeting the Spanish Cobras street gang that seemed intended to gather evidence tying Villa to the murder.
The two veteran prosecutors who led the doomed case against Villa maintained in post-conviction proceedings they had either turned over relevant evidence or hadn’t seen it. Foxx removed them from the case in 2022, and co-lead prosecutor Nancy Adduci was demoted and later fired last year. Her partner, Andrew Varga, resigned last month.
Villa’s co-defendants were arrested within weeks of the shooting, but their interrogations would become problematic.
Colon was found guilty at trial in 2017, and he was serving an 84-year sentence when an appeals court threw out his confession because detectives repeatedly ignored his requests for a lawyer. Clay’s confession also was thrown out by an appeals court, which ruled his IQ was too low to understand his right to remain silent.
Villa was questioned days after Lewis was killed but was later released. He wasn’t charged in the shooting until 2014, two years after his co-defendants.
His lawyers ultimately unearthed emails that indicated police and prosecutors failed to turn over key evidence on alternative suspects, as well as the cellphone data that showed the three defendants weren’t at the crime scene.
After Villa’s conviction in 2019, his sentencing proceeded despite his lawyers raising alarms over the alleged missing evidence.
The judge overseeing the case against Colon and Clay ordered a sweeping “dump” of all records in the case. The charges against the pair were abruptly dropped last year, on the day the former lead prosecutors had been subpoenaed to answer questions about what records they had and when.
Soon after, Villa received a life sentence from Judge James Linn, who was unmoved by claims that evidence had been withheld ahead of trial.
Villa is now expected to leave prison this week.