Michael Evans’ demeanor was mostly calm as he testified Tuesday about the 27 years he spent in prison before DNA evidence freed him in 2003, but he could not keep his composure as he began telling a federal jury about his mother’s struggle with his incarceration.
“My mother was experiencing something she shouldn’t have been experiencing,” Evans said of the time he spent behind bars for the 1976 murder and rape of 9-year-old Lisa Cabassa.
“If I could stay kind of strong for my mother. …,” Evans said, his voice breaking. He stepped from the witness stand sobbing on the first day of the trial in his federal lawsuit against the city and 12 police officers he alleges framed him.
Evans, 47, and a co-defendant, Paul Terry, were exonerated and then pardoned by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Before the outburst, Evans told jurors and U.S. District Judge David Coar about the fear he had as a 17-year-old entering prison. He went from a life of playing basketball with friends and singing in a church choir to living alongside hardened criminals.
He would remain in prison until age 44, after lawyers from Northwestern University took on his case and DNA testing performed in 2003 excluded him and Terry in the crime.
Evans’ lawyer, Jonathan Loevy, argued that police officers, under pressure to solve the case, manipulated evidence and coerced a key witness.