Wrongfully convicted San Jose man to receive $1 million settlement from Santa Clara County

Jeffrey Rodriguez of East San Jose, wrongfully imprisoned for five years for an armed robbery he didn't commit, is receiving a $1 million settlement from Santa Clara County. This payment serves as the closest form of amends he will receive, despite being found factually innocent after the charges were dismissed. The settlement brings the county's total payouts for wrongful convictions by the District Attorney's Office since 2005 to over $4.6 million.

While acknowledging the money cannot compensate for missing five years of his son's life, enduring beatings in jail, or losing his girlfriend, Rodriguez plans to use it after legal fees to buy property in the Central Valley, assist family members who sold their home for his legal expenses, and open a barber shop. Rodriguez expressed no anger, stating he wants to be "free" and that he survived the ordeal through frequent phone calls to family from prison and religious faith, believing "God lets things happen for a reason."

The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office referred inquiries about the settlement to the County Counsel's Office, which declined to comment. Importantly, the county is not admitting to any allegations made in the lawsuit, which included negligence, suppression of evidence, and witness tampering, by settling the case.

The federal lawsuit detailed the case history: Rodriguez's first trial ended with an 11-1 jury vote for acquittal for the robbery at a Kragen auto parts loading dock. He was subsequently convicted in a second trial, but that conviction was later overturned by an appellate court due to ineffective assistance from his trial attorney. Prosecutors under then newly-elected District Attorney Dolores Carr ultimately decided against a third trial due to doubts about the victim's identification of Rodriguez and because the sole physical evidence – testimony about an oil stain analysis by the then-crime lab chief – was contradicted by outside analysts, including the state Department of Justice.