A closely watched federal trial set to kick off Monday in Chicago ended before it even began, after the city and plaintiff Arturo DeLeon‑Reyes struck a settlement in principle in his lawsuit accusing retired Chicago Police Detective Reynaldo Guevara of coercing confessions in a 1998 double murder. The agreement, and a separate deal reached last month for co‑plaintiff Gabriel Solache, still needs to be signed and then approved by the Chicago City Council before any money is paid out.
U.S. District Judge Steven Seeger had been pushing both sides to keep talking, even as he prepared to rule on key evidentiary fights. He was poised to decide whether jurors would see portions of a deposition from then–Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx and a certificate of innocence before the case was pulled from the trial calendar, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Solache Deal Came Days Before Trial
Solache’s lawyers and the city quietly reached their own agreement on April 28, just days before jury selection was slated to begin. Court records show the DeLeon‑Reyes and Solache cases were on track to be tried together, and both settlements were described as confidential until formally presented to aldermen, according to WTTW News.
Judge's 2017 Finding Still Resonates
The civil suits grow out of allegations that have been simmering for decades. In 2017, Cook County Judge James Obbish threw out the confessions in the Soto murder case and blasted Guevara’s sworn denials as "bald‑faced lies." That ruling cleared the way for prosecutors to drop the criminal charges altogether, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Taxpayer Tab And Pending Claims
The financial fallout for Chicago taxpayers is already massive. A WTTW News analysis found that 14 Guevara‑linked cases have been resolved for about $141.9 million paid to exonerees. Once the city’s legal defense costs are added, the total climbs past $190 million.
WTTW News also reports that dozens of federal lawsuits tied to Guevara remain pending. Separately, city attorneys previously recommended paying $29.2 million to settle four other Guevara cases, a plan the City Council has already signed off on, according to CBS News Chicago.
Legal Notes
Civil payouts, of course, do not amount to a criminal conviction. Guevara has never been criminally charged or disciplined while on the force, and he still collects a city pension reported at about $91,000 a year, per the Chicago Tribune.
His more recent turns on the witness stand have featured frequent invocations of the Fifth Amendment, a strategy that can sharply limit what jurors and judges hear at trial. One civil case saw him clams up 80 times in a single proceeding, among other examples covered by local outlets.
For now, the May trial date is wiped off the court’s schedule while DeLeon‑Reyes’s attorneys and city lawyers finish hammering out the paperwork. Once the written agreements are in place, the settlements will head to the City Council for a final up‑or‑down vote.
