PEORIA, Ill. – The city of Peoria is settling a lawsuit filed by the estate of Cleve Heidelberg against the city and several of its police officers.
City council on Tuesday night approved a $625,000 settlement with the estate over alleged constitutional violations during Heidelberg’s arrest for the May 1970 murder of a Peoria County Sheriff’s deputy during a botched robbery at the former Bellevue Drive-In.
Peoria County Sheriff’s Deputy Raymond Espinoza was killed, and Heidelberg was convicted of his murder, but the conviction was tossed in 2017.
The suit was filed by Steven Heidelberg on April 19, 2018, about a month after Cleve passed away.
According to council documents, the lawsuit alleges that Heidelberg’s 4th and 6th amendment rights were violated, his due process rights were violated, evidence was fabricated and destroyed, there was failure to intervene, emotional distress, and indemnification.
Extensive fact discovery occurred from 2022 into 2024. In March of 2024, United States Federal District Court Judge Saw Darrow dismissed the lawsuit, but it was appealed a month later to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Peoria Corporation Counsel Patrick Hayes says the city was facing “considerable costs” if the case went to trial, as well as any potential verdicts.
“Recent jury verdicts out of Cook County, Illinois, have awarded wrongful conviction plaintiffs up to $5 million per year of incarceration, and given Mr. Heidelberg’s 35 years of incarceration, there’s a tremendous amount of liability if this case were to be revived on appeal,” Hayes said.
The only “no” vote on the settlement was 2nd District Chuck Grayeb. Grayeb says the city was “caving to such outrageous demands.” He claimed at the meeting that there was no evidence that showed a wrongful conviction occurred, and that going to trial was a risk the city had to take.
“If we’re going to roll over and play dead every time somebody threatens a big lawsuit because ‘oh gee in Chicago this happened or that happened,’ you are opening up our city to more and more of these lawsuits,” Grayeb said.
Grayeb also stated that the city was not standing behind its police and deputies by going forward with the settlement.
At-large Councilman Zach Oyler was a “yes” vote, but was not in favor of the settlement. He says it would cost the city less to just settle, than to risk losing and spending millions of dollars.
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