POOL PHOTO BY DAVID ZALAZNIK/ Cleve Heidelberg’s sister, Mae Winston, right, and her daughter, Wanda Figgers, are overjoyed at Judge Albert Purham’s ruling finding clear Constitutional violations in the original police investigation and trial of Heidelberg in the shooting death of Peoria County Sheriff’s Deputy Ray Espinoza. The judge granted Heidelberg an evidentiary  hearing scheduled for early February in his 1970 murder conviction.

BY CLARE HOWARD

Cleve Heidelberg won two out of three arguments in the appeal of his murder conviction in the 1970 shooting death of Peoria County Sheriff’s deputy Raymond Espinoza.

After listening to arguments presented Thursday by Matt Jones for the state and Andy Hale and Don Jackson representing Heidelberg, Peoria County Circuit Judge Albert Purham said there clearly were Constitutional violations in the original police investigation and trial.

Jones agreed these Constitutional violations occurred, but he contended they did not influence the outcome of the case.

Hale and Jackson argued these Constitutional violations alone should be sufficient to dismiss the 1970 conviction. They also argued there was no physical evidence linking Heidelberg to the murder except his car. Heidelberg’s attorneys argued the man who had borrowed Heidelberg’s car the night of May 25, 1970, was threatened and coerced not to testify in court. They also argued that FBI fingerprint reports that did not link Heidelberg to the crime were suppressed

The judge set 9 a.m. Feb. 8 for an evidentiary hearing in the case.

Heidelberg, 73, was sentenced in 1970 to 99 years to 175 years in prison, but he has always maintained his innocence. He has been incarcerated for the past 45 years.

His sister Mae Winston and her daughter Wanda Figgers were in court Thursday and were clearly overjoyed by the judge’s ruling.