Ex-Cop Testifies, Accused Of Framing, Beating Dozens Of Suspects

CHICAGO, IL — A former Chicago Police Department detective accused of framing dozens of people for murder took the witness stand for the second time in two weeks on Monday, testifying he had no memory of a murder investigation in 2000 but denying allegations he punched the suspects in the case.

Reynaldo Guevara, 74, was asked by Cook County Assistant State's Attorney James Papa to review police reports and his previous testimony in the case of Gabriel Solache and Arturo Reyes, two men who accuse him of beating confessions out of them. He refused to review the documents, flipping through the pages quickly and handing them back to Papa, BuzzFeed News reported.

"Are you refusing to even look [it]?" Papa asked.

"It's a report," said Guevara. "I don't remember."

Several convictions of those Guevara helped convict have since been overturned. He has repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination since a federal jury awarded $21 million to a man he was found to have framed in 2009, according to BuzzFeed, but he was granted immunity earlier this year by Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx in exchange for his testimony.

Although Guevara testified he didn't remember the case, prosecutors asked Judge James Obbish to use his testimony from 2000. The judge agreed, according to the Chicago Tribune, although he said it was up to him to decide how much weight to give Guevara's statements.

"I hope people know how [messed] up that is," an attorney for some of the clients who allege Guevara framed them. "It's pretty mindblowing that the state is literally vouching for the prior testimony when Guevara won't himself."

• Read more from Melissa Segura at BuzzFeed News

Watch footage of Guevara refusing to answer any questions in a 2013 deposition:

_{Top photo: Reynaldo Guevara | via Youtube}