On the night of June 13 1982 in Houston Texas-police stopped a black Buick after a pedesn-reported being nearly
On the night of June 13 1982 in Houston Texas-police stopped a black Buick after a pedesn-reported being nearly
The police officer who stopped the car, James Harris, ordered the two to get out of the car and put their hands on the hood. While Ricardo was following orders, Roberto pulled out a gun and shot the police officer four times, killing him.
Both boys then ran from the scene, and while fleeing, Roberto shot at a passing car, killing the driver.
The police then cordoned off the neighborhood where the shooting took place, searching for the two boys. Roberto was found a couple of hours later, hiding in a garage, from where he fired again at another police officer, missing but being killed in the shootout.
Ricardo was found shortly after hiding under a trailer, arrested, and taken to the crime scene, where the police were interviewing witnesses.
The investigation was conducted completely incorrectly: in searching for the two men house by house, the police forced the residents face down outside their homes, pointing a gun at their heads.
Some were taken to the station until the next morning, some of them barefoot or not fully dressed (they were, however, ordinary citizens who were in their homes at the time).
Several people witnessed the shooting, identifying Roberto Carrasco Flores as the sole culprit in the two murders.
The police officers, however, falsely testified, placing the blame on Ricardo.
The witnesses, many of whom were Hispanic and unable to speak or understand English, were threatened with legal repercussions if they did not sign the report compiled by the officers.
In many cases, the families were threatened with having the children taken away by social workers.
After these threats, the police dragged Ricardo, handcuffed, in front of these people, asking them to identify him as the culprit.
Many of them, out of fear, complied with the will of the police, while those who continued to maintain the innocence of the young man were not taken to testify.
Ricardo Adalpe Guerra was arrested on charges of murder and sentenced to the death penalty.
Thanks to some lawyers convinced of his innocence and the testimonies of those who, despite the threats, continued to emphasize his extraneousness to the facts, the death penalty was suspended and, on May 18, 1995, Judge Kenneth Hoy lashed out against the Houston Police Department, guilty of having altered the evidence and acted in a totally incorrect manner, declaring that Ricardo had been denied a fair trial, ordering that he be retried or released.
After a new trial, with all the evidence properly presented and all the witnesses re-examined, the state of Texas dropped all charges, recognizing Ricardo as innocent and releasing him on April 16, 1997, after fifteen years of unjust imprisonment.
After returning to Mexico, to his hometown of Monterrey, Ricardo died in a car accident on August 22, 1997, just four months after his release. Continue reading

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