Chicago City Wire

U.S. District Judge Gabriel Fuentes has granted a motion by defense attorneys representing police officers to depose Luis “Danny” Rodriguez, a key witness in Jose Cruz’s wrongful conviction lawsuit. 

Cruz was convicted in a 1993 gang-related murder and exonerated in 2022 by then–Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. He filed the lawsuit in July 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

The Rodriguez deposition, scheduled for September 11, will proceed even though discovery in the case has ended.

“With Rodriguez having been served, and with the deposition to proceed on 9/11/25, the Court finds, for the reasons stated on the record on 8/27/25, that conduct of this deposition at this phase of the case, even if fact discovery previously closed, is proportionate to the needs of the case,” Judge Fuentes wrote in his August 29 court filing.

Last month, lawyers for the defendant police officers argued in a motion to reopen discovery allowing for the Rodriguez deposition.

“Luis 'Danny' Rodriguez is Plaintiff Jose Cruz’s cousin and an essential witness,” lawyers with the Sotos Law Firm stated in their motion.  “Danny was interviewed by Defendants ASA Edward Maloney and Detective Anthony Riccio days after the Antwan Douglas shooting, during which he undermined Cruz’s alibi by stating that Cruz was not home at the time of the shooting.”

The lawyers further said that they were unable to locate the witness before the end of discovery.

“However, on August 6, 2025, Defendants were successful in serving Danny after Defendants had learned that Cruz had direct substantive contact with Danny,” they said. “Cruz’s expert relied on what was said by Danny, but Cruz will not provide that information or any details such as when, where, or with whom the conversation took place.”

In an August 26 filing, Cruz’s lawyers opposed the motion to re-open discovery by arguing that “fact discovery opened two years ago, has already been twice extended by Your Honor under Rule 16(b)(4), and it closed as to Rodriguez more than eleven months ago. This Court originally set fact discovery to close on June 9, 2024. Defendants moved to extend that deadline by six-to-nine months. The Court extended it 3-1/2 months, until September 27, 2024."

Cruz served 28 years of a 90-year sentence for the murder before he was released by Foxx but in 2022. His exoneration and release came just weeks after Foxx visited him in the Stateville Correction Center in Crest Hill and told him he was getting out.

The visit may have violated a Supreme Court rule covering communications with another attorney’s client due to Foxx discussing the case with Cruz.

Supreme Court rule 4.2 states: “In representing a client, a lawyer shall not communicate about the subject of the representation with a person the lawyer knows to be represented by another lawyer in the matter, unless the lawyer has the consent of the other lawyer or is authorized to do so by law or a court order."

Cruz was one of more than 250 exonerated in Foxx's eight years in office, most on claims of police and prosecutorial misconduct.