San Jose to pay man exonerated of attempted murder $12 million
(KRON) — Lionel Rubalcava was 23 years old when he stopped his truck to flirt with a woman in a San Jose neighborhood. An innocent moment of flirting set off a chain of events that led to Rubalcava serving 17 years in prison for a shooting he did not commit.
This week, the City of San Jose reportedly agreed to pay the exonerated man $12 million to settle a a police misconduct case. The city council voted Tuesday to approve the settlement for Rubalcava, who is now 46 years old and walking free.
On April 2, 2002, victim Raymond Rodriguez was shot in a drive-by shooting while he was standing in his neighbor’s yard on Mastic Street. The gunman was inside an SUV that was found engulfed in flames hours later. Rodriguez suffered injuries that left him paralyzed and in a wheelchair.
In Rodriguez’s first interview with police, he said that he did not recognize the shooter and had never seen him before, according to the Northern California Innocence Project based at Santa Clara University School of Law.
On the day of the shooting, Rubalcava was on a date with a woman in Hollister. Days later, Rubalcava drove through the victim’s neighborhood. “He saw Jennifer Rodriguez, the victim’s sister, outside and although he didn’t know her, he pulled over to flirt with her,” Innocence Project attorneys wrote.
While they were talking, the sister told Rubalcava about the shooting. He replied that he had nothing to do with the shooting and drove off. The victim’s family and friends became suspicious of Rubalcava and reported him to police.
Santa Clara County jurors found him guilty of attempted murder in 2003. A judge sentenced Rubalcava to serve 31 years to life in prison.
The conviction reversal stemmed from a post-trial investigation by the Northern California Innocence Project. “The team put together information showing the eyewitness identifications were unreliable,” NCIP wrote.
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The victim recanted his testimony in 2005, attorneys said. “(The victim) said he had always told police he was unsure about (the shooter’s) identification, and that he had simply said Rubalcava looked like the person who shot him,” NCIP wrote.
Rubalcava had a strong alibi. At the time of the shooting he was driving to Hollister, a town 50 miles south of San Jose, for a date. His date had insisted that he leave at 5 p.m. because of traffic.
Defense attorneys presented the case to the Conviction Integrity Unit in the Santa Clara County’s District Attorney’s Office in 2019. After spending 17 years of his life in a prison cell, Rubalcava was set free and his conviction was overturned by the court.
He later sued the city for wrongful conviction. Rubalcava told KQED on Tuesday, “The San Jose Police Department singled me out and framed me for a crime I didn’t commit. My family and I are grateful we can now put this nightmare behind us.”
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