Overview
- The City Council Finance Committee approved the global deal Monday and the settlement now must win a final vote of the full City Council before it becomes binding.
- The proposal would resolve 16 lawsuits brought by 17 people whose murder convictions tied to former CPD Detective Reynaldo Guevara were later vacated and dismissed.
- Plaintiffs collectively spent roughly 383 years in prison, the cases date as far back as 1987, and the city plans to pay the $260.8 million in four installments across 2027 and 2028.
- City attorneys told aldermen that settling now could avoid an estimated $300 million to $400 million in additional litigation costs and that the deal would not resolve all remaining Guevara-related cases.
- Officials stressed that money cannot fully repair decades lost to wrongful imprisonment, noted the city has already paid prior Guevara-era awards, and warned that total liability could exceed the proposed sum if more cases go to trial.