In 2005, Andre Gonzales was found guilty of second-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, armed robbery and attempted armed robbery after a shooting outside of a nightclub in Miami’s Liberty City.
The Medill Justice Project worked to overturn Gonzales’ conviction by conducting in-depth interviews with those connected to the case. This case is just one of many cases as part of the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, which has been investigating potential wrongful convictions since 1999.
Last month, after spending 12 years in prison Gonzales was released.
“I’m feeling outrageous right now,” Gonzales, now 46, told The Medill Justice Project. “I’m just so happy, thrilled.”
Florida prosecutors reportedly dropped all charges against Gonzales, a month after a Miami circuit court judge vacated his 2005 murder conviction and ordered a new trial. The smoking gun in the case came from testimony provided by Arnold “Maniac” Clark who said he saw the shooting that Gonzales was convicted of and said he wasn’t the shooter.
Clark told The Medill Justice Project in 2015 he would not testify out of fear of revenge.
“Let’s not forget now that Medill is the most important thing that happened for me because Medill and the students did such an excellent investigation and it really helped,” he said.
READ MORE: Innocent Man Released From Prison Eight Years After Murderer Confessed