Cook County judge sharply criticized by appellate court as it overturns murder conviction from 2003

A Cook County judge was sharply criticized by state appellate justices Friday as they overturned the murder conviction of a man who spent more than two decades behind bars.

The appellate court said “any reasonable review” of the case showed that Kevin Jackson’s conviction was flawed.

Associate Judge Angela Petrone had denied Jackson’s petition to vacate his conviction and grant a new trial in June, saying she saw no new evidence that would lead her to overturn the jury’s verdict. Petrone also cited the times other courts, including the state Supreme Court, had ruled against Jackson’s appeals.

But those courts did not have access to the same information that Petrone did, including a blockbuster internal state’s attorney’s report that found “powerful evidence that Jackson may be innocent.”

Prosecutors had also told Petrone that, in the interest of justice, they would not object to her vacating his conviction and would not retry the case.

In overturning the conviction Friday, the justices noted that “any reasonable review of this record demonstrates by a preponderance of the evidence that there are facts that, if known at the time of Mr. Jackson’s trial and direct appeal, would have prevented his convictions.”

Jackson, 43, was found guilty in 2003 of killing a man and wounding another in a shooting two years earlier at a South Side gas station. There was no evidence connecting him to the case beyond statements from witnesses, some of whom recanted before trial.

He was sentenced to 45 years in prison.

Jackson maintained his innocence and accused Chicago Police Detective Brian Forberg, who retired last year, of coercing witnesses to make false statements. Forberg has faced similar allegations in more than a dozen other cases, but Jackson’s case is the first case to be overturned on those allegations.

Jackson’s case got a new look in 2020 by the state’s attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit, which reviews defendants’ claims that they were wrongfully convicted.

In a memo, the unit’s former director, Nancy Adduci, concluded that “this matter requires no further review.”

Jackson’s attorneys, Brandon Clark and Elizabeth Bacon, later questioned in court whether that review could have been biased after learning that Forberg’s wife worked as an assistant state’s attorney in the Conviction Integrity Unit at the time the unit was reviewing Jackson’s case.

The state’s attorney’s office then assigned the case for another review by a pair of independent special prosecutors from outside the office.

The special prosecutors criticized Adduci’s assessment, writing: “The CIU examined only Jackson’s actual innocence claim and disavowed any view concerning the integrity of the police investigation.”

The report concluded, “This case presents a microcosm of the many ways in which a police investigation into a serious violent crime can fail.”

A source in the state’s attorney’s office said Friday the criticism of the office’s first review ultimately led to State’s Attorney Kim Foxx seeking Adduci’s resignation last year.

Adduci, who is widely respected by her fellow prosecutors in the office, has also faced allegations of hiding evidence in another case that has led to a conviction being overturned and charges dropped against three men accused in the fatal shooting of an off-duty police officer in 2011.

Adduci is suing the state’s attorney’s office over her termination, alleging she was discriminated against and fired because of her age and because she is white.

Kevin Jackson said it felt like a weight had been lifted when he learned Friday morning that he was no longer a convicted murderer.

“It keeps you alive,” he said of the hope he held while locked behind bars for more than two decades.

He said he was looking forward to the removal of an ankle bracelet that was fitted to him when he was released from prison earlier this month pending Friday’s ruling.

Still, his fight to clear his name isn’t done.

Jackson’s attorneys said they expect to return to court later this month for a hearing where prosecutors will officially state their decision on whether to retry Jackson.

A spokeswoman for the state’s attorney confirmed Friday they would not seek to retry Jackson.

While the appellate court’s ruling overturned his conviction, it does not declare him innocent of the crime. To do that, Jackson said he will seek a certificate of innocence, which requires a defendant to prove their innocence and makes state restitution funds for people who were wrongly convicted available to him if granted.

In the meantime, he said he’s going to take some time for himself to “find some piece of mind.” and think over his future — something he said he could only dream of just a few weeks ago.

A friend has offered him a lake house to use.

“He says the water will be nice for what I want to do,” Jackson said. “A tranquil environment to relax my mind and just start the healing process.”