Stephen (Alex's brother) (4:58)

I thought my brother had the case beat the whole time. Like my brother could have done many things. He's definitely not no angel, but he definitely wouldn't do that. I would bet everything that I have on that.

Melissa Segura (5:08)

That's Alex's older brother, Stephen. They grew up in Chicago in a big Puerto Rican family who all showed up for Alex's trial. Stephen, Alex's two older sisters, his young daughter and son, his mother and his elderly grandmother. The trial was a massive event, especially for the Chicago Police Department. One of their own had been killed, and they had finally gotten their man. For four days, Alex's family arrived to a wall of Chicago police officers staring them down.

Stephen (Alex's brother) (5:43)

The whole front of Cook County Jail would be lined up with police cars. The whole front in the middle of the street every court day.

Melissa Segura (5:50)

Once they got inside, the tension was even worse. It was like Officer Lewis had been killed yesterday.

Stephen (Alex's brother) (5:57)

Like there was 100 cops in the courtroom. Not letting my 80 year old grandma sit down at court, it was just. It was crazy. It was almost like Gotham City. Like you had the joker on trial here.

Melissa Segura (6:10)

In the courtroom, the prosecution laid out their case. They showed surveillance footage from the night of the murder. A man jumping over the counter at the mini mart, pointing his gun and firing at Clifton Lewis. That man was Alex. They said they had a confession from one of Alex's alleged accomplices and statements from three people who said Alex told him he's the one who committed the murder. Alex's Sister Marisol told me the whole time, she felt like the fix was in. She said it felt like prosecutors would openly taunt Alex in the courtroom.

Marisol (Alex's sister) (6:45)

Looking at their body language, right? Like, even the prosecutors, like, ha, ha ha. You're going away, you know?

Melissa Segura (6:52)

After four days of testimony, the jury reached a verdict in under four hours. Guilty. Marisol caught Alex's eye as he was led away in handcuffs.

Marisol (Alex's sister) (7:05)

I specifically looked at Alex and was telling him, don't worry. You're gonna come out of this, you know, like. And he just had, like, this blank face. And then I was looking at the rest of my family. You know, his daughter was there. His son, like, my other brother Steven. He, like, fell to the floor and started crying in the middle of court.

Melissa Segura (7:25)

Loudly.

Marisol (Alex's sister) (7:26)

Was like, he didn't do this. He didn't do this.

Stephen (Alex's brother) (7:28)

They escorted me out like, eight county sheriffs. I was just all over the place.

Melissa Segura (7:34)

The sentence would come later, but Alex's siblings knew that being convicted of killing a cop meant their brother was spending the rest of his life in prison. He was 30 years old, and he was never coming home.

Stephen (Alex's brother) (7:47)

My mom has heart failure. His daughters are getting big. My grandma's getting older. There's a possibility that he's gonna lose people that he loves all his life, and he's not even gonn or to see it, and he's sitting in jail for something he didn't do.

Melissa Segura (8:00)

Marisol knew better than to wallow or to wait. She worked as a probation officer in the same courthouse where Alex was tried, and so she knew the first thing they'd need for an appeal was a copy of the trial transcripts. Even before they left the courtroom, she put her sister Melissa to work.

Melissa (sister) (8:18)

She's like, make sure you call the court reporter's office and request the trial transcripts. Because things mysteriously disappear, and especially a high profile, a case like this.

Melissa Segura (8:29)

Melissa did something else. Right after Alex was convicted, she reached out to me. Like I said, I couldn't write about the case at the time, but years later, I found out the case was still moving through the courts. So I reached out to Melissa, and then I went to visit her and Marisol in the home they share in the Hermosa neighborhood where they grew up. Alex is the youngest, six years younger than Marisol and four years behind Melissa.

Melissa (sister) (9:01)

He's always been, you know, the baby of the house and grandma's favorite, and. And I say he was the favorite one jokingly, but he's. He's truly loved since he was very little.

Marisol (Alex's sister) (9:11)

My mom was so protective of him like he was her world is her world.

Melissa Segura (9:20)

Their parents split up when they were kids, and they all moved with their mom to the city's northwest side. There were eight or so gangs fighting for turf back then in Hermosa and neighboring Humboldt Park. Gunfire was often the soundtrack of their neighborhood.

Marisol (Alex's sister) (9:34)

There was even a time I was sitting outside the front steps of my home and there was a drive by happening and I had to hide underneath the stairs and duck there with my friends.

Melissa Segura (9:44)

The girls hid from the violence. Melissa poured herself into motherhood after getting pregnant at 15. Marisol escaped into school, getting herself into college, then a master's degree in social work. It was different for boys. Stephen told me you were either in a gang or you were its target. He joined the Spanish Cobras when he was in middle school.

Stephen (Alex's brother) (10:11)

Our father was in a gang. Our uncles were in gangs. So it wasn't that we were trying to be in gangs. It's almost like it's second nature to kind of be in gangs. When you're in Chicago, specifically in my area as well, you know, it's almost like you're not doing nothing bad. It's almost like that's what you're supposed to do, because it's almost like depending on what side you're on dictates what you will be.

Melissa Segura (10:38)

Alex joined the Cobra's two at age 13. Steven says they've both been having run ins with the cops ever since.

Stephen (Alex's brother) (10:49)

I mean, when we're young, the things the police used to do to us was just crazy. Like, they'll drop us off in different gang neighborhoods, they'll mace us, they'll beat us up, pin drugs on us. They'll lie and say we did things that we didn't do. I mean, we grew up fighting that all our lives.

Melissa Segura (11:10)

Alex was arrested dozens of times over the years for everything from possession of marijuana to robbery. But those charges never stuck, which, as Steven sees it, made him even more of a target.

Stephen (Alex's brother) (11:23)

Like, my brother was a well known guy and he's been around in this area a long time, you know, and he's a charmer. He's got the girls, you know, he's always dressed nice, he's got a car, you know, my brother, he's just well known, well known. And the police hated him all his life. That Police Department, 25th District, couldn't stand us.

Melissa Segura (11:43)

Listen, there's something I need to tell you up front. And it doesn't really have anything to do with the story I'm telling you, not directly, but I don't want to Paint a false picture of Alex as some kind of angel like his brother says he wasn't. Case in point, Alex did get one conviction, and it's a serious one. He killed someone in a hit and run 11 months after officer Lewis's murder. And I have to say, part of me wishes I could tell you a neater story of a man who does no wrong, accused of a crime he says he didn't commit. That's the movie narrative. The Shawshank Redemption, the Fugitive. We want nice, bright lines between offenders and victims, but the reality is so much messier. Most people who commit crimes are also the victims of crimes. It's a finding that holds true across the globe. Point being, when Alex went hunting for a lawyer to handle his appeal, he had two strikes against him. The first was the hit and run. But the bigger problem was that he had now been convicted of murdering a cop. Thanks to her job and probation, Maricel knew about law clinics that specialized in representing the wrongfully convicted. She says she contacted all of them, and she says they all turned her away.

Marisol (Alex's sister) (13:14)

And I was like, what? This is what you specialize? That's what you do? Why wouldn't you want this?

Melissa Segura (13:21)

You know, so did at least 10 private defense lawyers. Melissa says, the moment, you know, you

Melissa (sister) (13:28)

even mentioned, okay, this is a murder, but this is not just a murder. It is a murder of a police officer. It almost felt like. Like we were being judged without even getting to know us or just the whole situation.

Melissa Segura (13:44)

For a year, the sisters got nowhere. The moment they mentioned their brother's name. The Spanish Cobras. The murder of a police officer. It was like they could see the gate come down right before their eyes. And the courts wouldn't wait forever for Alex to find a new lawyer. They felt like they were running out of time.

Melissa (sister) (14:02)

We were, like, out of money almost. We kind of exhausted our options at that point.

Melissa Segura (14:09)

They paid Alex's first lawyer a lot of money, but they both felt like he never cared enough about their brother's defense. During the trial, he called only one witness to the stand. The sisters tracked down a second attorney for Alex's appeal, but they felt like he was worse than their original lawyer. In one embarrassing incident, he got Alex's name wrong and referred to him as Miguel.

Marisol (Alex's sister) (14:34)

Like the prosecutors would even laugh at court as he was presenting his defense and all of that. They were not at all shook or anything by him.

Melissa (sister) (14:42)

The first one failed us. The second one was just absolutely lousy.

Marisol (Alex's sister) (14:46)

There were times we felt sick physically. Like, exhausted. Yeah. And we still pushed ourselves or we pushed each other like it was a big, big rollercoaster ride.

Melissa Segura (15:01)

Then in February 2020, Alex called them with an idea. The window to argue for a new trial was closing in jail. He'd read some legal filings in another Chicago case. They were thorough, well argued, and all of the names seemed to be correct. And he thought, now this is the kind of attorney I need. That attorney's name was Jennifer Blagg. Marisol and Melissa typed Jennifer's name into Google. And when they saw the results, they were like, what is Alex thinking? Why her? Jennifer had represented high profile cops in murder cases. She had successfully defended an off duty officer charged with killing an unarmed black woman. Then she represented a white police officer named Jason Van Dyke. If that name sounds familiar, that's because Van Dyke was the cop who killed a 17 year old black boy named Laquan McDonald. It was a horrific case that received national attention, both because of the shooting. Van Dyke fired 16 shots at the boy. And because it took over a year and a lawsuit for the CPD to release the dash cam video of the incident.

Helen (16:20)

16 shots.

Melissa Segura (16:21)

16 shots. 16 shots. The case and the allegations of a cover up prompted mass protests throughout the city. 14, 15, 16. 16 shots.

Jennifer Blagg (16:32)

16.

Melissa Segura (16:33)

How could someone who defended cops turn around and defend their brother? Someone accused of killing an officer?

Marisol (Alex's sister) (16:40)

I didn't feel comfortable about that.

Melissa Segura (16:43)

Neither did I. They knew Alex was getting desperate, but still this woman really.

Melissa (sister) (16:50)

But he was a bit adamant and of course he was frustrated and he's like, go talk to her. Let's see. He was very optimistic about her.

Melissa Segura (17:01)

In March 2020, Marisol and Melissa drove to Blagg's office. The woman who greeted them was not what they expected. When Melissa and Marisol met her. Jennifer Blagg wasn't dressed up, she wasn't wearing makeup. She definitely didn't sound like some slick city lawyer. She grew up in a town called Hamburg, Arkansas 2,400. She just might be Hamburg's second most

Jennifer Blagg (17:29)

notable export to Chicago, home of Scottie Pippen. This is claim to fame. We lived in a concrete house that was across the cotton field from my grandparents. We had a pet cow named Daisy that I kept in touch with my cow until my mom gave her to a farmer and he promised not to kill the cow. Anyway, that's a whole nother story.

Melissa Segura (17:48)

Jennifer was a tomboy growing up. She played basketball, hated dresses and wanted to leave her small town for as long as she can remember. But after college, she settled down in Arkansas and worked in hr. Still, she couldn't Shake the feeling that she was meant to be doing something else, somewhere else. So she worked full time and went to law school at night.

Jennifer Blagg (18:13)

I got a job at first selling pantyhose at Dillard's. I am not a fashionista. I do not like wearing dresses. I do not like wearing pantyhose. It's absolutely hilarious that I would be selling pantyhose and giving women recommendations on if they should use ultra sheer or sheer. You know, I mean, it's just a hoot.

Melissa Segura (18:32)

Jennifer eventually walked across the stage in her cap and gown. No pantyhose, of course. To collect her law degree, She moved to Chicago and took on some high profile cases. She's proud of all of them. The wrongful conviction she's overturned, and the police officer she's defended. Even though the Jason Van Dyke case was really controversial, it wasn't just the Villa sisters who were skeptical about that one. Jennifer's friends were, too. She didn't represent Van Dyke at trial, but took on his case when she saw the sentence the prosecution was asking for. Bligh wasn't apologetic when talking to the sisters about the case.

Jennifer Blagg (19:14)

They wanted every shot of the bullet to count towards his sentence and it to be a consecutive sentence. If he got sentenced that way, every defendant after him would be sentenced that way. And that is. That's not how the law should work.

Melissa Segura (19:26)

Marisol and Melissa were still skeptical, but they were there because Alex asked them to be. So they put aside their own misgivings and told Jennifer that they were certain their brother was innocent, full stop, and they needed someone good to represent him.

Jennifer Blagg (19:41)

I always take what family says to me with a grain of salt. Not that they would be lying or anything like that, but there's sometimes things that family just don't know.

Marisol (Alex's sister) (19:50)

She's like, well, what makes him innocent? Anybody can say, you know, especially if your family, that your loved one is innocent. What makes him innocent?

Melissa Segura (20:01)

For the next two hours, the sisters laid out their reasoning. First, the Eminem Mini Mart is not in Cobra territory. No Cobra would travel to another gang's turf to rob a store. Second, the confessions from Alex's alleged accomplices. Those happened after days of grueling interrogations, the sister said. Then there was the surveillance tape from the Mini Mart. The man who leaps over the counter and starts shooting Officer Lewis, he puts his left hand on the counter to vault over it. That couldn't be Alex, they said. Alex was shot in his left hand six months before the crime, and it never fully healed. No way he could put his Weight on it to jump over a counter like that.

Melissa (sister) (20:46)

He has permanent nerve damage to the point where his fingers, they get stiff even when he would eat, the way he would hold a spoon. It's not like what a normal person. Right. How you would hold a spoon. It wasn't. He can't do that.

Melissa Segura (21:00)

Also, they said it wasn't just his hand that made the idea of him jumping over the counter implausible.

Melissa (sister) (21:05)

Alex is a chubby dude. He's always been chubby. He's short chubby, you know, has a hand injury. I mean, let's be logical here.

Melissa Segura (21:17)

The other thing was, Alex had presented an alibi that he was arguing with his girlfriend over text messages at the time of the murder. Prosecutors shot that down, arguing he could have just sent a quick emoji as he entered the store. Speaking of the prosecutors, the sisters told Jennifer that they didn't trust them. Their names were Andrew Varga and Nancy Aducy. Jennifer stopped them right there and said, wait, you need to understand that I'm friends with Nancy Aducy. We've worked together on a lot of things, and I like her. And right there, the sister's doubts about Jennifer came rushing back.

Marisol (Alex's sister) (21:57)

I was cringing at my seat. I was like, I want to leave, you know? Or like, I don't like her.

Melissa Segura (22:09)

They said their goodbyes, and when Alex called to see how the meeting went, they didn't hold back. She's not right. They told him. She's not the one. Alex told him he didn't care if she wanted to take on his case. Then he wanted her as his lawyer. Back in her office, Jennifer told her associate attorney, a guy named Eric Bisbee, about her meeting with the sisters.

Jennifer Blagg (22:37)

From what they told me, it just seemed impossible that Alex would have done this. And then when you have a huge gap in time between, like, the crime and somebody being charged and you're. That always is, as the kids say, sus. There's always shenanigans when there's a cop murder.

Melissa Segura (22:53)

Plus, she said she liked Marisol and Melissa and she felt bad for them, which, Eric pointed out, is not a good reason to take on a case.

Jennifer Blagg (23:02)

And then Eric was like, I don't think we should take it. I was like, well, I might have already said we would, you know?

Melissa Segura (23:10)

So, against his better judgment, Eric went ahead and requested the case file from Alex's previous lawyer.

Eric Bisbee (23:17)

It was just massive. I remember I showed up one day, and we have five banker boxes full of documents on the back porch. And I'm just thinking, how are we going to do this? I mean, it was a lot.

Melissa Segura (23:27)

He started with the trial transcripts, and right away he thought, this is even worse than I imagined. They've got confessions of alleged accomplices. They've got three other people saying that Alex told them that he killed Officer Lewis.

Eric Bisbee (23:42)

I looked at the summary. I'm like, Jennifer's lost her mind.

Melissa Segura (23:44)

He watched one police interrogation after another, recordings of the confessions made by Alex's alleged accomplices, the men who were supposedly at the M and M during the robbery. And nothing in any of them gave him a sliver of hope. Eventually, he got to one of a guy named Melvin DeYoung. And it's the same story Eric heard on all the other tapes. Then Alex was the shooter. He's thinking, this case is open and shut. And then just as he's about to stop the video, he says, something catches his attention. The detectives who've been interrogating Melvin leave the room, but they don't stop recording. And Melvin, once he's alone, he looks up at the camera and he whispers, it was a lie. Eric looks back into Melvin's face, his eyes staring right into the lens, and Melvin says it again. It was a lie. This season on Off Duty.

Melissa (sister) (24:59)

So there was, like, a bunch of guys that had attacked him that knew his location. Who would have known that information?

Eric Bisbee (25:05)

He says, I had a brain eating amoeba.

Stephen (Alex's brother) (25:09)

Next thing you know, they got the beating on my dog. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

Melissa (sister) (25:12)

You know I'm lying to you because

Stephen (Alex's brother) (25:14)

I told you from the beginning that

Melissa Segura (25:15)

I had nothing to do with this.

Jennifer Blagg (25:16)

There's nothing on this. Are you effing kidding me?

Stephen (Alex's brother) (25:19)

Every phase of this experience is something being taken from you.

Jennifer Blagg (25:24)

You have to be a fucking idiot to do this job and win, right? Like, you've got to have some blind faith. I was like, bring it.

Melissa Segura (25:36)

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. Former prosecutors Nancy Adduces and Andy Varga, along with legal representatives for each party, did not respond to multiple interview requests or a detailed list of questions. Prosecutors denied any misconduct in court papers. No officers or prosecutors have been accused of wrongdoing by officials in connection with this case. This is the Guardian.