Page 11 - OAD 2023 First Monday Digital Journal

2023 OAD BEACON OF HOPE AWARD

RICARDO JIMENEZ

Ricardo “Ricky” Jimenez was born and raised in the Bronx. He was brought up by his aunt, Matilda
Jimenez, whom he has always regarded as his mother. Mr. Jimenez is a father to three adult sons, Ricardo
Jr., Edwin, and David, and young son, Zayden, with his wife Demetria. Mr. Jimenez and Demetria also have
a baby girl, Amora, born in July; he was overjoyed to be able to attend Amora’s birth and to be a hands-on,
diaper-changing father to her. Mr. Jimenez also has two stepchildren, Diamond and Nathaniel.

Now 55 years old, Mr. Jimenez spent over 16 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. He was arrested
in 2006, nearly 17 years after a cold-case homicide had been resurrected when the police were contacted
by a highly incentivized man serving a lengthy sentence in federal prison. Despite the initial description of
the shooter being vastly different than Mr. Jimenez’s appearance and ethnicity, and conflicting accounts
of how the shooting occurred, Mr. Jimenez was convicted and sentenced to 22 years to life in prison.
He recalls the devastating impact of hearing the jury’s verdict and the sense that the world had come
tumbling down on him. He felt like giving up then and at various points throughout the long history of this
case. The unwavering support of his mother and, more recently, his wife Demetria allowed him to retain
hope for a just result.

OAD began representing Mr. Jimenez in 2008. After his direct appeal was affirmed by the Appellate
Division in 2010, Mr. Jimenez’s case was taken up by OAD’s newly formed Reinvestigation Project. Anastasia
Heeger, then-director of the Project, spearheaded a wide-ranging investigation that encompassed witness
interviews in six states and resulted in a post-conviction motion alleging Brady violations. After the
motion was denied, the Appellate Division ordered a remand for a hearing on one of the Brady claims.
After a hearing, the motion was again denied. OAD extensively supplemented Mr. Jimenez’s pro se habeas
corpus petition, which was granted in July of 2022. The federal district judge ordered the Bronx DA to
retry Mr. Jimenez within 120 days or release him.

Mr. Jimenez was released last November. After more than 16 years in state prison, the nightmare was
finally over, and Mr. Jimenez went home to his family. A few months later, all charges against him were
dismissed.

Returning to life at home has not been without its challenges. Mr. Jimenez has trouble sleeping and finds
himself repeatedly checking the locks on his door to keep his family safe. He plans to return to work as a
barber, with a dream of owning his own barbershop. Mr. Jimenez describes how he missed seeing sunlight
from his prison cell and how he now enjoys waking up every morning to see the sun shining through the
window of his family home.

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