Off Duty: The Prosecutors | Ep 5

Summary

Off Duty: The Prosecutors

Podcast: Off Duty | The Guardian Investigates
Episode: The Prosecutors
Date: March 18, 2026
Host/Narrator: Melissa Segura
Summary prepared by: [Your Name]

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Episode Overview

In this gripping episode of Off Duty, Melissa Segura investigates the aftermath of a Chicago police officer’s murder and the ensuing 12-year pursuit of justice at any cost. The focus is on the work of defense attorneys unraveling suppressed and mishandled evidence, questionable prosecutorial conduct, and the subsequent fallout for the three men accused of the murder: Alex Villa, Tyrone Clay, and Edgardo Colon. The episode blends investigative breakthroughs, courtroom drama, and personal stories of endurance and heartbreak, ultimately scrutinizing the criminal justice system’s integrity and the toll it takes on the accused and their families.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Case-Hinging Expert: Raul Palma Perez’s Ordeal

• Opening Crisis: Raul, the crucial witness and video game repairman, vanishes at a critical moment. He later resurfaces after surviving an extraordinarily rare, usually fatal, brain-eating amoeba.

  Jennifer (on Raul’s near-death): “Your expert gets a brain eating amoeba, that's next level...And then he lived though...it's like a miracle.” (02:23)

• Breakthrough Evidence: Raul's sworn statement that he heard Tyrone playing PlayStation online at the time of the murder casts doubt on the official narrative.

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2. Missing Evidence and Prosecutorial Duties

• Unexplained Absences: Cell phone records, Facebook messages, and other potentially exculpatory digital evidence are missing from defense files.

  Jennifer: “We became suspicious that the police got evidence that they hadn't turned over.” (06:46)

• Broad Records Search: Jennifer spearheads a vast search via FOIA requests and subpoenas, recovering millions of emails and key FBI cell data.
• The Damning FBI Map:
  • The cell phone location map, dated Jan 6, 2012, places the accused miles from the scene during the murder time, contradicting their confessions.

    Eric: “Melvin DeYoung...is miles away at the exact time of the crime.” (09:59)

  • Texts from Edgardo to his girlfriend further cement alibis.

    Eric: “The entirety of the text messages makes it clear that that's his phone and he's using it...it's about as ironclad as you can get...” (10:44)

• Implications: The map, suppressed during the original trial, bolsters the defense’s argument for false confessions under police pressure.

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3. Clues from Metadata: Editing the Official Story

• Police Report Metadata:
  • Jennifer discovers significant edits in earlier drafts of police reports:
    • The initial draft (Microsoft Word) describes Alex Villa’s hand as “somewhat deformed and not functioning properly.”
    • The official version merely states “abnormal,” a term intentionally vague and less helpful to the defense.
  • Name in the Metadata: Nancy Adducey, head of Cook County’s Conviction Integrity Unit and lead prosecutor, is identified making the change.

    Jennifer: “...And there was an edit she had written in all caps, like a question or something...and it made me question other decisions she possibly had made and what other things she had done.” (15:37)

• Use of Personal Emails: Prosecutors and officers used private email addresses to circulate drafts, raising transparency and withholding-evidence concerns.

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4. The Courtroom Fallout

• Prosecutors’ Defense: Nancy Adducey and Andy Varga claim not to have received or considered the cell data map “admissible” or relevant, though records show they were aware. They argue all defense lawyers could have requested it and failed to.
• Defense Outrage:

  Narrator: “Tyrone and Edgardo's lawyers aren't satisfied. They...subpoena Nancy and Andy, plan to put them on the stand under oath, and grill them about all the missing evidence.” (21:46)

• DA’s Calculated Retreat: Facing the unprecedented possibility of prosecutors being questioned under oath, the State’s Attorney’s office drops charges against Tyrone and Edgardo instead, freeing them after 11 years.

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5. Personal Reactions and Consequences

• Freedom & Frustration:
  • Tyrone: “I walked out there with my hands up like Rocky with my bag in my hand...the best experience of my life. Cause where I just came from, I thought I wasn't gonna make it out.” (24:29)
  • Edgardo: Describes a two-week delay before his ankle monitor was removed despite being freed. (25:07)
• Alex’s Bittersweet Reality: Left behind, Alex expresses immense pain over missing years with his family:

  Alex Villa: “I was happy that I felt like some sort of justice has been served, but...like I was left behind, you know...like, am I forgotten about, you know, at this point?” (25:43)
  “Being away from my family, not having your freedom is like, nobody can understand until they're actually in that situation.” (26:14)

• Hope for Alex?: With his co-defendants cleared, Alex’s lawyers pursue a new trial, hinging on the same evidence, before a tough judge.

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6. Ruling and Reflection: Justice Deferred

• Courtroom Tensions: Jennifer describes facing hostile police in court; hissing officers as she delivers her arguments.

  Jennifer: “For them to be hissing me, and I wanted to turn around and be like, you should be ashamed. Each one of you in here knows he didn't do it.” (30:02)

• The Judge’s Reasoning:
  • Despite the new evidence, Judge James Lynn refuses Alex a new trial, citing testimony from three jailhouse informants as too significant to overturn.

    Narrator: “Because of those three witnesses, Lynn says Alex's case is not the same as Tyrone and Edgardo's. Alex will not get a new trial. His conviction will stand.” (31:07)

  • Alex is sentenced to life in prison.

    Jennifer: “It's just crushing, bone crushing, heartbreaking.” (32:03)

• Aftermath: Jennifer and Eric vow to appeal. The episode closes with the toll on Alex’s family—and renewed determination for justice.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• Jennifer (on fighting prosecutors): “I thought I was friends with these people...I gave them chance after chance after chance to try to do the right thing by Alex and not have all this mess.” (17:19)
• Tyrone (on his release): “Let your past be your past. Let your future be your future.” (24:29)
• Alex (on missing his children): “Not only have they did this to me, but to see everybody else that loves you hurt as well is...what hurts me the most.” (26:14)

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Key Timestamps

• [02:14] The miraculous survival of the expert witness and implications for the defense
• [05:36] Start of missing evidence revelations
• [09:01] The millions of emails and filing of broad public records requests
• [09:49] Discovery of the exculpatory FBI cell phone location map
• [10:44] How text messages substantiated the alibis
• [14:17] Introduction of police report metadata and its impact
• [17:19] Jennifer’s sense of betrayal and pleas for justice
• [19:28] Prosecutors’ courtroom arguments regarding the withheld evidence
• [24:29] Tyrone’s emotional account of his release
• [25:43] Alex’s bittersweet reaction to his co-defendants’ freedom
• [30:02] Tensions with police in the courtroom during the new trial hearing
• [32:03] Sentencing and the emotional toll on defense team and family

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Tone and Delivery

The tone of this episode is urgent, empathetic, and at times, raw. It blends journalistic rigor with the personal voices of those whose lives have been upended by the case. The narrative demonstrates a clear skepticism of the institutions involved while highlighting the exhaustion and resolve of the defense team, interspersed with moments of hope, disappointment, and resilience.

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Conclusion

This episode exposes grave flaws in the criminal justice process, painting a nuanced picture of ambition, betrayal, and dogged perseverance. Despite legal victories for some, the story remains unresolved for Alex Villa—his fate now hanging on the appellate courts—while the prosecutors and police face no official sanctions for alleged misconduct. The episode closes on both heartbreak and hope, underscoring the profound complexities of seeking justice when the system itself is on trial.

Transcript

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

This is the guardian.

[Eric]

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[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

Raul Palma Perez had gone missing again. The video game repairman had the evidence that could break open Alex's case. And he was the only one who'd seen it. And now he's gone. Not answering any of Eric's calls or texts. Eric keeps checking his phone. When finally, after more than a week, he hears the ding of an incoming text message, he shows his phone to Jennifer.

[Eric]

He says, I had a brain eating amoeba. And so Jennifer and I are looking it up and we're like, brain eating amoeba is like so rare.

[Jennifer]

So we were trying to figure out what it was because English isn't his first language. He's Cuban. So anyway, we assumed it meant edema, right? We were trying to figure it out.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

Edema, when you get swelling from retaining fluid.

[Eric]

So we thought, you know what, he just misspelling edema. That makes sense. His head hurts, he maybe fell, you know, some swelling, maybe some bleeding.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

But it wasn't a typo. He'd contracted an amoeba that gets into your nose, travels to your brain and starts destroying your brain tissue. Luckily, this is extremely rare. Unluckily, it's usually fatal.

[Eric]

One, people rarely get them, and two, when you get them, it's like a 90% mortality rate. You don't survive most of the time. A brain eating amoeba.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

Of the 167 people who have gotten this amoeba, just four have lived. One of them was Raul.

[Jennifer]

Your expert gets a brain eating amoeba, that's next level, you know. And then he lived though, right? So you can't even say you're unlucky. It's like a miracle.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

So at this point, Jennifer Blagg was feeling pretty good. Her star witness had survived a brain eating amoeba. She'd gotten a sworn statement from him saying that he'd heard Tyrone Clay's voice on the PlayStation, evidence that he'd been gaming when Officer Clifton Lewis was killed. The timing was perfect. The state was gearing up to finally bring Tyrone to trial. He'd been waiting in jail for 10 years without ever being tried, much less convicted. And now with this evidence, maybe he'd go free. One of the state's attorneys leading Tyrone's trial was Nancy Iducey, who'd originally prosecuted Alex Villa. Jennifer considered her a friend.

[Jennifer]

I'd never gone to have drinks with her or anything like that, but I was very, very friendly with her. We worked together on many, many things. We don't always see eye to eye, but that's the nature of our work.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

In the three years since Alex's trial, Adduces had been promoted to head of Cook County's Conviction Integrity Unit. Its purpose is to review claims of wrongful conviction, which is great. Jennifer figures Nancy will hear this new, potentially exonerating evidence, and she'll do what prosecutors are supposed toassess it fairly. The police might have crossed lines. The forensics lab might have miskeyed data. The but now it was in the hands of the head of the Conviction Integrity Unit. The wheels of justice turned slowly, but maybe they really would finally start to turn right. From the Guardian, I'm Melissa Segura and this is Off Duty Episode five. The prosecutors. So just to back up for a moment and explain where things are, it's now 2022. Alex was convicted in 2019, but for various reasons, he hasn't been formally sentenced yet. And Jennifer and Eric have been working to get him a new trial before the sentence even comes down. Proving Tyrone's innocence is a big part of their strategy. If he was home playing video games, then he couldn't have been at the mini mart with Alex. His confession had to be false. And if his confession was false, then the whole story might fall apart. But Jennifer has been around a long time and she knows they might need more than the PlayStation evidence some way to prove for a fact that not only Tyrone, but none of the men could have been at the mini mart that night. Going through documents, she notices something.

[Jennifer]

We saw somewhere in a warrant or something that the Chicago Police Department was communicating directly with Facebook.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

The CPD was asking Facebook to give them expedited access to personal accounts because the situation was urgent.

[Jennifer]

Like, this is an emergency. We have to do it right now. And when it's exigent circumstances, you can ignore the constitution long and the short of it. So they're trying to get Alex's Facebook account.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

This sets off Jennifer's spidey sense. If the request was so urgent, where were the Facebook records? She doesn't have them. And legally, prosecutors have to share all the evidence they have that might prove someone's innocence. It's a principle so sacred, the cases can be thrown out if a prosecutor withholds materials that are favorable to the defense. Jennifer and Eric had already noticed they didn't have Alex's cell phone records or phone records from his co defendants or his girlfriend. Now they're missing this Facebook data too. And if those things aren't in their files, what else might be missing?

[Jennifer]

We became suspicious that the police got evidence that they hadn't turned over.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

So she figures she'll just go directly to the prosecutors. Nancy Adducey and her partner on the case, Andy Varga. Both Nancy and Andy were experienced prosecutors. They both came to the state's attorney's Office in the mid-90s. The office culture focused on winning convictions. The generation of lawyers before them had a tradition. After their first victory at a jury trial, they cut their neckties and mounted them to the wall. A trophy. But Jennifer knows them as straight shooters. She likes and respects them. If this is all just an oversight, they'll obviously correct it. And if it's something more serious, they'll want to know. Plus, they have a legal obligation to turn it over.

[Alex Villa]

She.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

She writes to Andy and starts to tick through the list of things she's missing. First, do you guys have those text messages between Alex and his girlfriend when Alex says they're arguing at the time of the murder? And also there was a mention of an FBI cell phone analysis, a map of their locations. Do you have that? Andy writes back to Jennifer. He says he'll ask the FBI about that map and pass it along when he gets it. And he tells her that he searched his email every way he knows how, and he can't find any of that cell phone data she's asked for? Jennifer wasn't about to accept Andy's word for it that this info just couldn't be found. Eric told me it was out there somewhere, and she was gonna find it.

[Eric]

So one of the things that she's particularly good at is. Is finding ways to discover information that other people can't. And not only that, it's not through brute force. She'll think of a way through it.

[Jennifer]

And so it began. So I started small.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

She files a public records request focusing on one detective's emails.

[Jennifer]

Then it just built and built. And then I realized there was so much going on in the case that we went really broad and started just saying anything with Alexander Villa, meaning she's

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

requesting any emails containing Alex's full name.

[Jennifer]

And we even went as broad as anything with Villa. So you can Imagine what we got. I don't know how many millions of emails we went through. Like an astounding. A shocking amount of emails.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

She also sends out a subpoena to the FBI for that cell phone analysis. The one Andy said he'd forward along when he got it and hadn't. The FBI responds with a map. It shows an FBI agent had taken the location data from the suspect's cell phones. The agent put color coded dots marking each man's approximate location on the night of Officer Lewis murder. As soon as they see it, Jennifer and Eric know just how much this would hurt the state's case. It's a stun.

[Eric]

Melvin DeYoung. Who's the guy? The only independent eyewitness who's there, sees Villa get out of that car, according to the state.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

But the map seems to show something else.

[Eric]

He is miles away at the exact time of the crime.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

According to that map, Melvin DeYoung, the diabetic, couldn't have seen Alex enter the mini mart. He wasn't there. The same map places Edgardo's phone near his home in Humboldt park, more than three miles away from the mini mart at the exact time of the crime.

[Jennifer]

Like it's just one fucking bombshell after another. You know, where you're like, I what?

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

What now? Just because Edgardo's phone is pinging from Humboldt park doesn't necessarily mean Edgar, though, is the one using that phone, right? Then Jennifer and Eric pull up another data source. The actual text messages from Edgardo's phone.

[Eric]

How do we know he has a phone in his hand? Well, we got phone dumps, so extractions of cell phones that showed us the content of that. And he's texting his girlfriend about having sex. His phone's just littered with things that it's him talking about, stuff he's involved in. The entirety of the text messages makes it clear that that's his phone and he's using it. Some of them are outgoing phone calls, meaning that the person unlocked their own phone, typed in whatever phone number, picked their contacts and called them. So unless somebody started texting his girlfriend about having sex with her, you know, it's about as ironclad as you can get that he had the phone.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

The attorneys keep mining Edgardo's cell data and realize that on the night of the murder, Edgardo didn't talk to any of the other suspects.

[Jennifer]

They had not communicated with him that day. They hadn't communicated him with him that week. They hadn't communicated with him that year. They did not talk to him so

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

these men had allegedly robbed a store together, but they'd never talked on the phone. Jennifer and Eric go back through the transcripts of Alex's trial just to make sure they haven't missed something. But nope, the cell phone map never comes up. There were a few plausible explanations. One, Alex's original lawyers did see it, but chose not to bring it up. Two, the prosecutors hadn't seen the map themselves. Or three, they saw it but didn't turn it over. Then Jennifer and Eric look at the date that the FBI map was first generated. January 6, 2012. On that day, Melvin, Edgardo and Tyrone were all still sitting at the police station giving their confessions. But the FBI map, which the police already had, strongly suggested those confessions couldn't be true.

[Eric]

Alex goes in, Clay goes in. Edgardo Colon is driving. Melvin, Dey Young's in the car. If any one of those people aren't there, the story really falls apart. Because why are so many different people saying this story that it's not true? It lends even more and more support to all these defendants and a witness who were saying, they coerced me. You know, this is made up. And the fact that they all have the same made up story is very suspicious.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

The next day, CPD held a press conference to announce that Tyrone Clay and Edgardo Colon had been charged with Lewis's murder, even though police had a compelling reason to believe they couldn't be the right men. So now if you're Eric and Jennifer, it's like you cast this net out hoping to catch a few things in it. And when you pull it back in, it's full of all sorts of stuff you didn't expect, which is great for your case and enraging. And it also leads you to wonder what else is out there? What would happen if we cast an even bigger net, and how exactly would we even form that net? That's when Jennifer thinks, well, we already have all the police reports related to the case, but what if we could get our hands on the reports about the reports, the metadata.

[Eric]

Metadata is data that's associated with data. So let's say you have a photograph. The photograph itself is the actual data that you're producing, but along with that is other data that's kept with the photograph. For example, the location it was taken, the time it was taken, what camera it was taken by.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

Police reports have that kind of data too.

[Eric]

You submit the police report, the data itself is a police report. But in this case, Jennifer wants to know, well, when was that police report created? When was it submitted, who approved it. And so the metadata is all the information that goes along with that police report that gives you an idea of how it was created, stored, and when it was approved.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

For instance, one of the documents they get back after they requested the metadata is a draft of a police report. But it's weird. This draft, it's in Microsoft Word instead of the police department's usual software. And in the draft, it says Alex's hand is, quote, somewhat deformed and not functioning properly. But the final report, the one that exists in the official case files, doesn't say any of that. Instead, it says that Alex Villa's hand looked, quote, abnormal. What name appears in the metadata of that change? Nancy Adducey.

[Jennifer]

And then I look, and there was an edit she had written in all caps, like a question or something. And then I'm like, what the what? And it made me question other decisions she possibly had made and what other things she had done.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

And the change in describing Alex's hand wasn't just semantics. A key part of Alex's defense at trial was that his hand was too injured for him to have vaulted himself over the counter like the killer did, that he could not physically have done what the man in the surveillance video does. The details about Alex's hand looking deformed and not functioning would have supported Alex's claim. But changing the description of Alex's hand to abnormal, well, that could mean anything. And here's another thing Jennifer notices in the document she's requested, people with access to the drafts of that police report. Nancy, Andy, and most of the other officers they were communicating with, they use their personal email addresses to send drafts back and forth and make changes that might seem like a small bureaucratic error. But using their personal emails could have kept important evidence out of the hands of Alex's defense team, evidence that, under the law, they were entitled to have. This all makes Jennifer question everything she thought she knew about Nancy and Andy and the role of prosecutors to do what's right.

[Jennifer]

I thought I was friends with these people, like, I gave them chance after chance after chance to try to do the right thing by Alex and not have all this mess. And I said to Andy, barg, just give him a new trial. Do what's right. I said that over and over to Nancy.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

But this new information didn't just change Jennifer's feelings about Andy and Nancy. It could change the future of Alex's case.

[Alex Villa]

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[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

Jennifer reaches out to Tyrone and Agardlo's lawyers and tells them what she's discovered from her records requests. They're outraged, especially about the FBI cell phone map, which strongly suggests that the men were nowhere near the mini mart on the night of Clifton Lewis's murder. Prosecutors should have given them that evidence too. Like I told you earlier, turning over evidence helpful to the defense is sacred in criminal cases. In the fall of 2022, Edgar, though, and Tyrone's lawyers asked Nancy and Andy about it in court. Nancy tells the judge that she'd never received the 2012 cell phone map from CPD. She went on to say she knew about it, but there were issues with the data and didn't think it proved anything. She said she didn't think it was admissible. To be clear, there was no ruling on whether or not the map was admissible. Andy chimed in to say a 2012 police report shared with the defense in 2016 referred to the existence of a cell phone analysis. So quote, bottom line, everyone has known about this, he says. Alex, Tyrone or Edgar, those attorneys could have asked for it and they didn't. The prosecutors continue their argument in court papers, writing that the cell phone Map doesn't prove anything because they say the map is wrong. They argue that the FBI agent who created it back in 2012 wasn't an expert and made mistakes. They say two other FBI agents had since plotted the calls differently. So this map you have, it's wrong, and so we didn't have to turn it over. The attorneys representing Alex, Edgardo, and Tyrone say, one, whichever map you look at, none of them ever show the men's phones together or anywhere near the mini mart. And two, it doesn't matter which map is right. The law is clear. Prosecutors have a responsibility to turn over evidence that could help the accused prove their innocence, and they didn't. In December 2022, Edgar. Those attorneys ask a judge to sanction Nancy and Andy and remove them from the case. Before the judge could rule on that, the higher ups at the prosecutor's office intervene. They pull Nancy and Andy off the case. We can't be sure exactly why they were removed, but Tyrone and Edgardo's lawyers aren't satisfied. They want to find out if there's more evidence that the prosecution didn't turn over. So they do something practically unheard of. They subpoena Nancy and Andy, plan to put them on the stand under oath, and grill them about all the missing evidence. In June 2023, Nancy and Andy are subpoenaed to testify. Tyrone's lawyer prepares to call them to the stand to answer questions about their alleged misdeeds. Why were they using personal emails? Why was the map not handed over? Had they intentionally hidden the truth? This puts the state's Attorney's office in a bind. Nancy and Andy take the stand, and its office risks a brutal reputational beating if they testify that important evidence was never disclosed or worse. Or. It drops the charges against Tyrone and Edgar, though, and the testimony is moot because there would be no case for them to testify in. So that's what the state's Attorney's office does. They drop the charges. The charges against the two men were dropped Wednesday ahead of a hearing during which police and prosecutors were set to be questioned over their handling of the 2011 investigation. With the charges dropped, Nancy Adducey and Andy Varga no longer need to testify, and Tyrone and Agardo are free. The state's Attorney's office had worked for 10 years to prosecute these men for the murder of a police officer. Now it seemed like they'd rather scrap the case than risk airing their dirty laundry. What did all this mean for Alex? Not much, actually. Nancy and Andy also prosecuted Alex, but his case Was heard by a different judge, so this ruling wouldn't affect him. Still, it was a day for celebration. 11 years, 5 months and 15 days after being charged with the murder of Clifton Lewis, Tyrone Clay walks out of the Cook County Jail.

[Tyrone Clay]

I felt so good, man. Walking out that door, the officer was like, man, I know you a good dude, man. And he opened the door for me. He was like, man, don't never look back. Let your past be your past. Let your future be your future. Go ahead and live your best life. That's what he told me. And I walked out there with my hands up like Rocky with my bag in my hand. Yup, the best experience of my life. Cause where I just came from, I thought I wasn't gonna make it out. I ain't gonna lie.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

Egardo heads straight from the courtroom to get his ankle monitor removed.

[Edgardo Colon]

So I went down there and he was like, we need the paperwork from the judge or whatever. So we had to wait. So I was like, okay, I could wait another day or whatever. Ended up being like two weeks. A little bit more than two weeks before they took the bracelet off. So even after you freed me, didn't free me, I still had to abide by these rules for two weeks. That's just a little bit of the Chicago system for you.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

Alex finds out about Tyrone and Edgardo from Amanda, his girlfriend, and the mother of his then 13 year old son, Damian.

[Alex Villa]

I was happy that I felt like some sort of justice has been served, but I felt like bittersweet that I was left behind, you know, like I wasn't. Like my family wasn't celebrating along with her family, or I wasn't leaving, walking out with them, you know, like, am I forgotten about, you know, at this point?

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

Alex has been locked up for more than a decade. Six of those years awaiting trial, and three years since his conviction.

[Alex Villa]

Being away from my family, not having your freedom is like, nobody can understand until they're actually in that situation. And take it from me, you know, I can't do the simplest things. Like, you know, have went to one of my son's baseball games. You know, I couldn't attend my daughter's graduation. Those are things that tear me up inside, you know, because not only have they did this to me, but to see everybody else that loves you hurt as well is. I think that's. That's what hurts me the most.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

But for the first time since his arrest in 2013, Alex has reason to hope Jennifer is working to get him a new trial. And how could any judge keep him in prison. If the guys he supposedly killed Officer Lewis with have had their cases tossed, maybe he'd soon be in the stands at Damian's baseball games. During Alex's visits and calls with Damian, he sees more and more of himself in his boy.

[Alex Villa]

The way he sleeps, the way he eats, the things he likes. His hair, has the same colic as me, loves sports like me, Has a beautiful sense of humor. Always laughing. We could laugh until we go cry tears with each other.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

Amanda, Damian's mom, says Alex and Damian talked all the time and she hoped soon it wouldn't be by phone. I would just tell him all the time, don't worry, babe. No matter what is happening in court or what's being told doesn't mean it's not going to come to light and your dad will be home. Alex and Damian start planning for when that day comes and Alex walks out of prison. They'd head for Florida, make a new life, toes in the sand, far away from the reach of the Chicago Police Department, which could be soon. There was a hearing coming up seeking a new trial for Alex. Jennifer is worried because of the judge in Alex's case. James Lynt had been a hard nosed prosecutor before taking the bench. So getting him to reconsider the conviction of an admitted gang member in the murder of a cop would take mounds of indisputable evidence. But Jennifer and Eric believe that they have that kind of evidence. Plus, Jennifer has a rapport with Lynn going all the way back to 2018 when she was representing a police officer, Jason Van Dyke. One day in court, Lynn had pulled her aside.

[Jennifer]

He's like, Jennifer, you represent Jason Van Dyke. That's the cop. And I said, yeah. He goes, can't believe it. And then he said, Jennifer, you are a warrior. And when he said it, it enabled me to see myself in a way that I don't normally see myself. And like, that's the bullshit term of today. I felt seen, you know, so I felt seen by him.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

Maybe that personal connection would help this

[Jennifer]

time, you know, I was stupid enough to have hope.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

Lynn sets a date for late August in the same courtroom where Alex was convicted. He had vowed to close out the case before his retirement in just a few days. On the day of the hearing, cops lined the courtroom gallery like they hissed

[Jennifer]

during my argument, like I heard. And for them to be hissing me, and I wanted to turn around and be like, you should be ashamed. Each one of you in here knows he didn't do it. You all know, because all the cops do know. He didn't do it. I've had other officers tell me, oh, we all know he didn't do that. And so for you to be here hissing at me, I was like, bring it.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

Jennifer makes her case to Judge Lynn. The cell phone map, the PlayStation, the edited police report.

[Jennifer]

I was like, once he hears all this and he sees the proof of it, maybe then he'll understand how bad this is and he'll give him a new trial.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

Lynn acknowledged that Alex's co defendants had their convictions thrown out. But he said Alex wasn't convicted just based on their questionable confessions extracted in the police station. Remember those three other witnesses who said Alex told them he killed Officer Lewis? The ones we told you about in episode three, the guy who said he was kidnapped, the one allegedly pouring Four Loko out the window, and the other one at the nightclub? We now know all of them had their own trouble with the law at the time they gave their statements against Alex. Lynn relies on those witnesses, despite all the evidence Jennifer and Eric had found undermining their statements. Because of those three witnesses, Lynn says Alex's case is not the same as Tyrone and Edgardo's. Alex will not get a new trial. His conviction will stand. He won't be there for any of Damian's games. They won't be packing a van and heading toward Florida. And Alex will again be parenting from behind bars. A reporter from the Chicago Sun Times notices the tears in Jennifer's eyes as Lynn makes his ruling.

[Jennifer]

It's just crushing, bone crushing, heartbreaking. We knew he was going to be sentenced to life in prison for something he didn't.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

Judge Lynn sentences Alex to life in prison. Jennifer and Eric would go back to the drawing board and prepare an appeal.

[Jennifer]

He got found guilty. He got sentenced to life, and the other people got out, but they didn't

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

have time to lick their wounds. Alex had been sent to a maximum security state prison 250 miles away.

[Jennifer]

There's always worse things that can happen.

[Narrator / Melissa Segura]

She was right. It's just that the danger wasn't where she thought it would be. The Guardian made repeated attempts to speak with the Chicago Police Department. The department did not have anyone available to answer our questions, a spokesperson wrote in an email in court documents. Officers deny any misconduct in the case. Former prosecutors Nancy Adducey and Andy Varga, along with their legal representative, did not respond to multiple interview requests or a detailed list of questions. They denied they engaged in any wrongdoing in court papers. Also in court filings, prosecutors argued there is no showing of bad faith by either a Ducey or Varga. No officers or prosecutors have been accused of wrongdoing by officials or charged in connection with this case. The Cook County State's Attorney's office declined to comment, citing pending litigation. In court papers, they denied misconduct in this case. We tried reaching Judge James Lynn and did not hear. This is the Guardian.

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