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There are numerous witnesses who testified that this man was in Florida at the time the crime was committed. Despite this, there is no weapon, no video evidence, no physical evidence—nothing. The conviction relied solely on the testimony of an informant, who made a deal with the prosecutor to reduce his own sentence in exchange for providing incriminating statements against an innocent man.

No amount of taxpayer money can compensate for the 20 years this man has unjustly lost.

Efraín Romero de la Rosa paced back and forth in his solitary cell, frequently stopping to gaze out the small window overlooking the gray expanse of the immigration detention facility. Standing at 5 feet tall, with a thick black beard and balding head, Romero spent his 21st day in solitary confinement battling the voices in his head.

Romero's schizophrenic episodes were particularly dark, often colored by his deep religious beliefs. Each voice calling him the "Antichrist" twisted the dagger of his anguish further, plunging him deeper into depression. Confinement in his 13-by-7-foot concrete cell for 23 hours a day only exacerbated his condition.

Dressed in his red prison jumpsuit, the 40-year-old man would push against the cell door. As he paced, he sometimes wept. Occasionally, he would stand at the edge of his chrome toilet, only to sit back down again. Up, down. Up, down.

Romero was detained at the Stewart Detention Center in rural Georgia, one of the largest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities in the country. The facility houses male migrants seeking asylum and awaiting deportation. However, ICE does not run the detention center—it is operated by the private prison company CoreCivic.

Romero wanted nothing more than to be deported to Mexico, a move that would mark the end of the excruciating months he spent in ICE custody. Other men detained at Stewart saw Romero crying inside his cell and heard him calling out for his family. "He said he wanted to see his father and mother soon," said a man detained in the same unit to a state investigator.

Before entering ICE custody, Romero had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. During his time in ICE detention, Romero's mental health deteriorated; at one point, he told the detention center staff that he would suffer "three terrible deaths."

Previously, while in ICE custody, Romero had been placed on suicide watch and separately referred to a mental health institution. Staff noted his fixation on death. Yet, CoreCivic's correctional staff sent Romero to solitary confinement for 30 days.

Near the end of his 21st day in solitary, Romero took his own life in the small cell. Documents obtained as part of a joint investigation by The Takeaway and The Intercept, from WNYC and PRX, offer insight into Romero's time in ICE custody, as well as his death. Hundreds of pages of documents collected in a state of Georgia investigation and an internal CoreCivic investigation, along with records shared by Romero's family lawyer, reveal that CoreCivic staff at the Stewart Detention Center violated their own rules in handling the mentally ill detainee. From the intake process to disciplinary actions—and even on the night he took his life—CoreCivic staff neglected the proper care of a man diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Romero's case is a tragic example of an immigrant detention system gone awry. Solitary confinement is often used by prison staff as a means to punish detainees; a man from Bangladesh told The Intercept in 2018 that guards at the Stewart Detention Center, operated by CoreCivic—the same facility where Romero was held—sent him to solitary confinement over an $8 dispute for prison labor.

The use of solitary confinement in immigrant detention is increasing and has become a political issue. An investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and The Intercept, which included whistleblower testimony, found that solitary confinement was a standard practice for disciplining detainees and handling problematic cases, rather than the last resort prescribed by detention standards. Following the investigation's release, Democratic presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., condemned the use of solitary confinement, and Senator Cory Booker, D-N.J., called for congressional hearings on the practice.

 Overcome with emotion, Leonard Mack released almost 50 years of tears in Westchester County court.  His 1976 rape conviction was finally vacated. He spent seven years behind bars for a crime he never committed. 

ST. LOUIS (AP) — For the second time in weeks, a Missouri prison has ignored a court order to release an inmate whose murder conviction was overturned. Just as in the case of Sandra Hemme, actions by the state’s attorney general are keeping Christopher Dunn locked up.

St. Louis Circuit Judge Jason Sengheiser on Monday tossed out Dunn’s conviction for a 1990 killing. Dunn, 52, has spent 33 years behind bars, and he remained Tuesday at the state prison in Licking. “The State of Missouri shall immediately discharge Christopher Dunn from its custody,” Sengheiser’s ruling states.

Dunn wasn’t released after his conviction was overturned because Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey appealed the judge’s ruling, “and we’re awaiting the outcome of that legal action,” Missouri Department of Corrections spokeswoman Karen Pojmann said in an email Tuesday.

The decision to keep Dunn incarcerated puzzled St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore, whose office investigated his case and determined he was wrongfully convicted, prompting a May hearing before Sengheiser.

“In our view, the judge’s order was very clear, ordering his immediate release,” Gore said at a news conference Tuesday. “Based on that, we are considering what approach and what legal options we have to obtain Mr. Dunn’s relief.” He declined to specify what legal options were under consideration.

Bailey’s office didn’t respond to Tuesday messages seeking comment.

Dunn’s situation is similar to what happened to Hemme, 64, who spent 43 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of a woman in St. Joseph in 1980. A judge on June 14 cited evidence of “actual innocence” and overturned her conviction. She had been the longest-held wrongly incarcerated woman known in the U.S., according to the Midwest Innocence Project, which worked to free Hemme and Dunn.

But appeals by Bailey — all the way up to the Missouri Supreme Court — kept Hemme imprisoned at the Chillicothe Correctional Center. During a court hearing Friday, Judge Ryan Horsman said that if Hemme wasn’t released within hours, Bailey himself would have to appear in court with contempt of court on the table. She was released later that day.

The judge also scolded Bailey’s office for calling the Chillicothe warden and telling prison officials not to release Hemme after he ordered her to be freed on her own recognizance. It wasn’t clear if the attorney general’s office similarly called prison officials at the prison where Dunn is housed.

Dunn’s wife, Kira, said they would hold off really celebrating until he’s out of prison.

“We are overjoyed, and at the same time, we’re also afraid to really exhale until Chris actually takes his first free steps and feels the free ground against his feet,” Kira Dunn said at the news conference. “When that happens, I think all these feelings we’ve been holding onto for so long will finally erupt.”

Dunn was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1990 shooting of 15-year-old Ricco Rogers. Gore filed a motion in February seeking to vacate the guilty verdict.

After weighing the case for nearly two months, Sengheiser issued a ruling that cited “a clear and convincing showing of ‘actual innocence’ that undermines the basis for Dunn’s convictions because in light of new evidence, no juror, acting reasonably, would have voted to find Dunn guilty of these crimes beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Lawyers for Bailey’s office said at the hearing that initial testimony from two boys at the scene who identified Dunn as the shooter was correct, even though they recanted as adults.

A Missouri law adopted in 2021 lets prosecutors request hearings when they see evidence of a wrongful conviction. Although Bailey’s office is not required to oppose such efforts, he also did so at a hearing for Lamar Johnson, who spent 28 years in prison for murder. Another St. Louis judge ruled in February 2023 that Johnson was wrongfully convicted, and he was freed.

Another hearing begins Aug. 21 for death row inmate Marcellus Williams. Bailey’s office is opposing the challenge to Williams’ conviction, too.

The hearing comes with urgency. Williams is scheduled to be executed Sept. 24.

St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell filed a motion in January to vacate the conviction of Williams for the fatal stabbing of Lisha Gayle in 1998. Bell’s motion said three experts determined that Williams’ DNA was not on the handle of the butcher knife used in the killing.

Williams narrowly escaped execution before. In 2017, then-Gov. Eric Greitens granted a stay and appointed a board of inquiry to examine innocence claim. The board never issued a ruling, and Gov. Mike Parson, like Greitens a Republican, dissolved it last year.

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled in June that Parson had the authority to dissolve the board and set the September execution date. 

This case once again illuminates the limitations and, at times, egregious misconduct within the judicial system. It starkly demonstrates how prosecutors can egregiously violate the law to uphold the conviction of an innocent man, as evidenced in the case of Christopher Dunn. This miscarriage of justice involves violations of constitutional rights, including due process under the Fourteenth Amendment and protection against cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment.

The conduct of the prosecutors in Mr. Dunn's case exemplifies prosecutorial misconduct, a blatant disregard for ethical obligations and legal standards. The judiciary's failure to rectify these injustices underscores a systemic problem. This is reminiscent of totalitarian regimes, where the integrity of the legal system is compromised for the sake of maintaining wrongful convictions.

It is imperative for Congress to immediately revoke prosecutorial and police immunity to hold these actors accountable. The principle of "guilty beyond a reasonable doubt" must be strictly enforced, ensuring that no individual can unduly influence the scales of justice. The current state of the US judicial system necessitates urgent reform to safeguard the rights of the innocent and restore public trust in the rule of law.  https://gofund.me/436b704d