Cleve Heidelberg family's $100 million lawsuit has been thrown out by federal judge

A lawsuit filed by the family of Cleve Heidelberg against the city of Peoria, Peoria County, officers and prosecutors who convicted him in 1970 for the death of a Peoria County sheriff's deputy was dismissed by a federal judge last week.

In ruling against Heidelberg's family, U.S. Central District Court Chief Judge Sara Darrow showed skepticism regarding the initial claims made by the family in 2018 when they initially filed the lawsuit. The suit claimed the Peoria Police Department and the Peoria County Sheriff's Office had fabricated evidence and ignored flaws in their ultimately-successful case.

Heidelberg, a Black man, was indicted in June 1970 for allegedly killing Peoria County Sgt. Ray Espinoza during an attempted robbery at the Bellevue Drive-In on West Plank Road. While his attorneys claimed that another person committed the crime, Heidelberg was eventually convicted by an all-white jury in January 1971 and sentenced to life in prison.

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Despite appealing several times for a new trial, his conviction was affirmed in 1975. Heidelberg filed an unsuccessful civil rights lawsuit against the officers in 1973, but ended up settling the case against both the city and county in 1982.

In a 48-page order, Darrow said that the city and county officers, who each filed motions for summary judgment last August, both proved that the lawsuit was barred due to claim preclusion – known by the legal term res judicata, which bars a person from trying to relitigate claims from a settled lawsuit.

In this case, the defendants claimed that because Heidelberg settled the lawsuit against both the city and the county in 1982, he could not bring similar claims to the court in the future. Darrow said that the complaints made by Heidelberg himself in 1973 and his family in 2018 were similar in nature and that the defendants met all three elements for a res judicata claim – that a final judgment had been made on the merits, that the parties had been clearly identified and that the causes of action had been clearly identified.

For the city officers, a judgment had already been filed in January 1982, with each of the officers identified in some way to the allegations and that each of the claims all concern issues at hand during the 1973 lawsuit. On the county side, the judgment was approved four months after the city side, with the officers identified in each suit and concerning many of the same issues.

As such, Darrow ruled in favor of the city, county and officers to grant their summary judgment, putting an end to a saga that lasted well over 50 years and continued throughout much of Heidelberg's life.

Heidelberg's conviction was thrown out in 2017 after a judge ruled that a videotaped confession by the brother of James Clark – a man present with Heidelberg on the night in question – was permissible in court and could be used in a new trial. Heidelberg was then released from prison at the age of 74, posting bond in the case and waiting for a new trial.

Heidelberg died in March 2018 after his body was found in his apartment in the 4200 block of North Knollridge Road.

His family then filed the $100 million lawsuit one month later, stating that police had suppressed evidence and ignored evidence suggesting that Clark killed Espinoza, while also claiming that former Peoria County State's Attorney Jerry Brady failed to investigate evidence that allegedly proved the misconduct of the officers.

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The lawsuit had been continued for the next six years, with the deaths of many of the people involved — including Brady, Heidelberg's son, Stephen, and several of the police officers — impacting the case. Several counts had been dismissed before last week's decision, which left behind eight remaining counts that were wiped out by Darrow.

The family does have the right to appeal Darrow's decision. Officials for both the city of Peoria and the Peoria County State's Attorney's Office said they were confident that any appeal would not be approved.

Jodi Hoos, who replaced Brady as state's attorney following his death in 2019, said that the dismissal would hopefully provide some closure to Espinoza's family.

"The county has always had full confidence that the right person was convicted of Sgt. Espinoza’s tragic murder," Hoos said in a statement. "This will hopefully provide Sgt. Espinoza’s family some much deserved and long-awaited closure."

Peoria city attorney Chrissie Kaputska said she was appreciative of Darrow's work in examining both sides of the issue and coming to her conclusion on the case.

"(I express) gratitude that Judge Darrow devoted the substantial time and resources necessary to carefully consider both sides’ submissions to ensure that the correct decision was reached, and that justice was well-served," Kaputska said in a statement.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Cleve Heidelberg family $100M lawsuit dismissed by federal judge