San Jose man free after long fight against gang case and century-long prison sentence

SAN JOSE A man serving a -year prison sentence for a string of violent gang attacks became a free man this week when prosecutors dismissed his charges on the eve of a third trial spurred by a scolding appellate ruling last year that threw out his conviction because it improperly hinged on rap songs to brand him a gang member Hugo Alexander Chavez was distributed from Santa Clara County jail late Wednesday after serving years in jail and prison during which his first trial ended with a hung jury tilted in favor of acquitting him and his second trial led to a decades-long prison term issued in Hugo Alexander Chavez who was serving a -year prison sentence reflects on his life after being free from prison as he looks on at the Silicon Valley De-Bug in San Jose Calif on Friday July Prosecutors dropped his matter in a lengthy court journey that included a mistrial Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group Throughout this whole time fighting deep down in my heart I knew it was going to happen The whole circumstance was just extraordinary Chavez mentioned in an interview Friday Right now I feel extremely overwhelmed It s just been nonstop love and affection from my loved ones that missed me and I missed them And just a lot of catching up right Just filling in that gap and just getting various closure Chavez was headed to trial again this month before the district attorney s office dropped murder and attempted murder charges He had considerable legal momentum behind him this time around the bulk notably with a December ruling by the Sixth District Court of Appeal that vacated his conviction and sentence The strong rebuke of his criminal affair Chavez stated left him speechless as he sat in prison reading the ruling issued the day after Christmas I didn t know how to feel and what to feel at the time it was very shocking to me he revealed It took me a moment for it to sink in and for me to realize that it was happening The Sixth District ruling identified that extensive mention of Chavez s role in producing rap songs with lyrics promoting gang life which he did not write unfairly pushed a jury toward finding him guilty The ruling noted that the lyrics evidence took on disproportional significance in a trial where the evidence of Chavez s guilt was not overwhelming and with state prosecutors conceding Chavez s gang affiliations were thin at best Appellate judges also pointed to as Chavez s attorneys had done repeatedly the fact that the only direct evidence against him was the unverified testimony of a sole witness who had serious credibility issues his own storied criminal past and is now desired on an current arrest warrant This development presents the rare circumstances under which reversal is warranted The evidence against Chavez was not strong the contents of the lyrics were extremely inflammatory and the prosecution s frequent references to them compel the conclusion that it is reasonably probable the outcome of the trial would have been more favorable to Chavez in the absence of the error the appellate ruling reads Stuart Kirchick an attorney who represented Chavez at trial had questioned the county Superior Court to throw out the latest re-filed charges arguing in a trial brief that his prosecution has been so riddled with racial bias reflected largest part visibly in citation of the rap songs a tactic that has since been curtailed by the state Legislature and outrageous regime misconduct that a full affair dismissal was the only just remedy The district attorney s office announced its decision to dismiss Chavez s episode was based in part on the challenges of trying to prove a episode that would rely on memories of crimes that occurred years ago Factors like the age of the incident unavailability of eyewitnesses and the appeals court ruling made it problematic if not impossible to try this episode at this time the office commented in a comment We are disappointed but determined to hold those who commit gang violence in our society accountable Chavez was first indicted in for murder and attempted murder charges after being accused of driving two other men who were hunting for rival gang members and ended up stabbing and shooting two men on March Jurors deadlocked at the end of the first trial in then another jury identified him guilty of the charges in the retrial During the appellate process both the Sixth District court and the state Attorney General s Office acknowledged the weak state of the other evidence against Chavez an engineer with no felony history past and passive ties to San Jose gangs by way of growing up with gang members Chavez had built a recording studio in his grandmother s back yard and produced rap beats for friends who espoused gang messaging and lyrics over the music The appellate court ruled the danger of undue prejudice substantially outweighed any probative value the lyrics had and that the trial court s wholesale admission of the lyrics constituted an abuse of discretion The court added that the citation of the lyrics in closing arguments created a scenario where jurors could not easily know they were not allowed to consider them as evidence that Chavez had a violent character In another Bay Area development in murder convictions for two men were overturned by a Contra Costa County Superior Court judge who ruled that the citation of defendants rap lyrics and videos more likely than not triggered the jury s implicit racial bias against African American men and was in violation of the Racial Justice Act Hugo Alexander Chavez receives a hug from Veronica Flores a longtime friend and former coworker outside the Santa Clara County Main Jail in San Jose on July following his release from custody after years of jail and prison incarceration Photo by Daniel Zapien Silicon Valley De-Bug Chavez disclosed his first two days of unrestricted freedom have been a whirlwind reuniting with friends and family and conclusively getting to meaningfully connect with his daughter who was born right around the time he was first jailed He s also remembering the loved ones who passed away while he was incarcerated including his brother and grandmother I m just taking it one day at a time he declared But he also is actively looking ahead While in prison he became a legal advocate for his fellow inmates and helped form the nonprofit A System Down which was founded by Rudy Cuevas his former cellmate in county jail He also advocated for criminal justice modification including the Racial Justice Act with the help of Silicon Valley De-Bug the South Bay civil-rights group that has long supported incarcerated people and their families He plans to continue that advocacy while he gets back on his feet I think out of all this negative stuff that happened in my life obviously let s build something positive out of it What I could tell other people is just never lose hope he added If you re innocent you know never give up and just keep working hard to tell the truth