SUMMARY

On November 2, 2022, more than 34 years after Adolfo Rosario was arrested for a murder he did not commit, and two years after the Bonjean Law Group took on his case, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office agreed that his conviction should be vacated and the case was dismissed. His wrongful conviction was the product of Reynaldo Guevara, one of Chicago’s most corrupt police officers.

Rosario was convicted in 1991 of the murder of Anthony Hawkins, a school security guard who was shot outside a Chicago school in 1988. The conviction relied on a deeply flawed eyewitness identification and the testimony of a teenager who later received leniency. Rosario’s trial was further tainted by the fact that his defense attorney was representing Guevara at the same time, creating a serious conflict of interest.

Rosario spent more than 30 years behind bars before being released on parole in 2019. By then, dozens of wrongful convictions tied to Guevara’s misconduct—including coercing statements, fabricating identifications, and framing suspects—had been overturned. With the help of the Bonjean Law Group and attorney Steve Greenberg, Rosario’s conviction was vacated in 2022.
In December 2023, Rosario filed a petition for a certificate of innocence, which would formally clear his name and allow him to seek compensation for the decades he lost.