Federal lawsuit alleges Chicago police officers framed man in 2011 slaying of fellow officer
Man claims officers “perpetuated a wide-ranging scheme” to manufacture evidence
One of the men who was initially charged in the 2011 slaying of Chicago Police Officer Clifton Lewis has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that fellow officers “perpetuated a wide-ranging scheme” to manufacture evidence to secure convictions in the case.
Alexander Villa’s conviction was vacated and charges were dropped in October after the Cook County state’s attorney’s office learned that the defense had not been provided with some potentially exculpatory evidence – evidence that could have been favorable to their client.
Villa’s lawsuit was filed Tuesday, naming the city of Chicago, Cook County, former prosecutors and several police officers and investigators as defendants. Villa is being represented by the Loevy and Loevy law firm.
Police officer’s death
When the police star of slain officer Clifton Lewis was retired in November 2021, both his fiancee, Latrice Tucker (left), and his mother, Maxine Lewis (right), were there.
Lawsuit claims police misconduct
“No one can pay Mr. Villa back for what he has been through, and Officer Lewis’s family may never find justice for their loss,” Jennifer Blagg, one of Villa’s attorneys, said in a statement.
“And the City of Chicago taxpayers continue to pay for the CPD’s refusal to change a well-documented pattern of misconduct that goes back decades. Meanwhile, the CPD promotes and rewards the officers that engage in the misconduct, resulting in a never-ending cycle of wrongful convictions.”
Villa was one of three people charged in Lewis’ death. The two other men, Edgardo Colon and Tyrone Clay, filed their own lawsuits in 2023 after their charges were also dropped following allegations of misconduct by police and prosecutors.
The lawsuit
The defendant officers, Villa’s suit states, “perpetuated a wide-ranging scheme to manufacture evidence to ensure the convictions of [Villa] and two other men.”
Villa was convicted as one of the gunmen in 2019 and handed a life sentence. His lawyers ultimately unearthed emails that indicated police and prosecutors had failed to turn over key evidence on alternative suspects, as well as cellphone data that showed the three defendants weren’t at the crime scene.
The lawsuit claims police “specifically targeted [Villa] after they were unable to coerce a false confession from him.” The officers “suppressed exculpatory evidence and fabricated inculpatory evidence [backing the prosecution’s case], all in an attempt to frame” Villa.
Tyrone Clay, arms raised, surrounded by family and attorneys, walks out of Cook County Jail after prosecutors drop charges against him in the 2011 slaying of Chicago police Officer Clifton Lewis in June 2023.
Operational scheme
The officers worked together toward that aim through an investigative operation called “Operation Snake Doctor,” the suit alleges. Although the team was convened to target the Spanish Cobra street gang, the investigation amounted to a monthslong dragnet to find evidence against Villa, the suit alleges.
“Defendant officers arrested dozens of people and searched their homes to try and fabricate evidence against [Villa],” the suit states. “In addition to working to fabricate witness statements, defendant officers told these witnesses that [Villa] was the reason they had been arrested, purposely putting [Villa’s] life in danger.”
The lawsuit also alleges that prosecutors “deprived [Villa] of his constitutional right to a fair trial and his right not to be wrongfully convicted and imprisoned.”
Veteran Cook County prosecutors Nancy Adduci and Andrew Varga were pulled off Villa’s case in 2022 after Villa’s lawyers uncovered the files and data. Adduci was fired, and Varga resigned last September. Both are named as defendants in the suit.
Conclusion
The case against Colon, Clay, and Villa dragged on for years, in part because of allegations of misconduct by detectives.
