In 2005, Rosa Jimenez was sentenced to 99 years in prison for a crime she did not commit. Last week, after spending almost 18 years behind bars, Rosa was finally released.
Rosa Jimenez and her attorney Vanessa Potkin following her release on Jan. 27, 2021 (Image: Robin Jerstad for the AP/Innocence Project)
On Wednesday, Travis County Criminal District Court Judge Karen Sage granted Rosa’s request for relief and ordered that she be released saying that “all ... of the medical evidence that is available to us at this time, suggests that Ms. Jimenez could not and did not commit this crime.” The judge added that “it’s clear without false and misleading testimony that was presented at the original trial [in 2005], there would have, could have been no conviction.”
In 2003, Rosa was preparing lunch for her 1-year-old daughter and Bryan Gutierrez — a toddler she regularly babysat — when he began choking on paper towels. She rushed to his aid, but when that didn’t work, she took him to her neighbor for help and to call 911. The child was taken to the hospital where he was resuscitated, but he had suffered significant brain injury and died months later. Rosa was convicted of murder based exclusively on testimony from doctors who treated Bryan — who did not have expertise in pediatric airways and had no experience with a similar choking — and erroneously concluded that Rosa must have forced the paper towels in Bryan’s throat.
Prior to Judge Sage’s ruling, four other judges had concluded that Rosa was likely innocent. In 2019, a U.S. District judge ordered Rosa to have a new trial on the basis that she was denied her constitutional right to present qualified medical experts at her original trial in 2005.
On Tuesday, four pediatric otolaryngologists who specialize in the management of children’s airways from the country’s top children’s hospitals testified at her hearing that the evidence indicated that Bryan accidentally choked and that it would have been “near to impossible” for this to have been the result of an intentional act of a single person. In addition, one of the State’s witnesses from trial testified that, contrary to her previous testimony, she now believes it is possible Bryan’s choking was accidental. Based on this evidence, Judge Sage ruled that the State’s case at Rosa’s trial “rested on false and misleading testimony,” and there is now “clear and convincing evidence that she is innocent.”
Though Rosa has been released from prison, her fight for full exoneration isn’t over. In Texas, the district court can make a recommendation to grant relief, but her case is now under review by the Court of Criminal Appeals that uniquely has the ability to vacate her conviction.
Rosa is thrilled to be out and with her children again. At the time of her arrest, her daughter Brenda was one year old and she was seven months pregnant with her son Emmanuel who was born in prison. Brenda got married over the weekend and her mom was able to celebrate with her in person.
“I’m so excited after all this time I’m going to make it [to her wedding] … the most important time of her life and I’m going to be there — that’s exciting,” Rosa said at the time of her release.
The Innocence Project exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. www.innocenceproject.org
