We have an update today on one of our recent posts Ryan v. Ryan in Illinois. There is a new article Cruz Factor in the Chicago Sun Times about Attorney General and gubernatorial hopeful Jim Ryan's participation in the Rolando Cruz case. ( Here is our earlier post on the Cruz case.)

Ryan was the prosecutor who sent Cruz to death row, where he stayed until he was acquitted at a third trial. It was discovered that the police had manufactured a confession that helped convict him, DNA tests showed he was not the rapist and the real rapist ultimately confessed.

The Chicago Sun Times article informs us that "As DuPage County state's attorney, Jim Ryan oversaw the first two prosecutions of Rolando Cruz for the rape and murder of Jeanine Nicarico. One of his deputies, Joe Birkett, worked on those cases and the final trial in 1995, in which Cruz was found not guilty. Ryan and Birkett are the GOP nominees for governor and attorney general. Their Democratic opponents, Rod Blagojevich and Lisa Madigan, say both men helped put an innocent man on Death Row."

Daily Kos today thoroughly covers and explains the case and the political ramifications here.

An update: Normon Solomon, in Determined Journalism Can Challenge Injustice has high praise for a new radio documentary highlighting the Cruz case.

"In a documentary called " Deadly Decisions," from American RadioWorks, correspondent Alan Berlow found that "jurors may be influenced by their own fears and prejudices when they sentence people to death."

"The documentary, co-produced by Minnesota Public Radio and NPR News, succeeded in ways that public radio shows like "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered" routinely fail. Meticulously researched, the special report devoted a full hour to scrutinizing what happens under the surface of official accounts, easy narratives and quick soundbites."

"The result was exemplary journalism that explained how people can be put to death by a legal system that's theoretically equitable but functionally skewed against defendants without white skin or financial resources. ..."

"One of the documentary's illustrative stories involved the experiences of a man named Michael Callahan, who was a juror in a murder trial. Callahan described a jury atmosphere reminiscent of "Twelve Angry Men." But instead of sitting in a make-believe cinematic jury room in the 1950s, Callahan was sitting in a real jury room in the 1980s. "

"Most of the jurors seemed inclined to convict even before the trial began. And the prosecutor's case was so weak that Callahan recalled feeling "aghast." Yet, convinced that "sooner or later the truth is going to come out," he went along with voting to convict the defendant, Rolando Cruz, of first-degree murder."

"An entire decade passed before the truth came out. "Cruz had nothing to do with the murder," the documentary reported. "He had lost nearly 12 years of his life, most of it on death row."

You can listen and view the portion of the documentary pertaining to the Cruz case and juror interview here.

One of the most complete articles on the Rolando Cruz case was written by Alan Berlow and published in the November 1999 Atlantic Monthly. You can read it here.