In his second appearance on the witness stand in two weeks, embattled former Chicago police Detective Reynaldo Guevara continued to claim Monday that he didn’t remember anything substantial about a 1998 murder investigation, but then denied allegations he beat two men who confessed to the killing.
Guevara’s denials came after a Cook County prosecutor and a judge pressed him on whether he punched Gabriel Solache or Arturo Reyes, both convicted of the brutal double murder in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood.
“Did you ever punch (Reyes) in the stomach?” asked Assistant State’s Attorney James Papa.
“It’s something I would not have done,” Guevara replied.
When Judge James Obbish pressed for a straight answer, Guevara flatly denied using physical force on Reyes.
Guevara gave similar answers when asked whether he punched Solache, but when Papa asked if he slapped the suspect, Guevara denied remembering anything.
Earlier in his testimony, Guevara didn’t appear to look at paperwork shown to him by prosecutors who were attempting to help refresh his memory.
“I’ve asked you to review it,” Papa said. “Start looking through pages.”
“It’s a report, I don’t remember,” Guevara said without appearing to examine the document.
Guevara, 74, who has previously invoked his right to remain silent when questioned about such allegations, has been granted immunity from prosecution in an effort to get him to answer questions.
But his lawyers feared that breaking his silence could put him at risk of perjury charges if his answers differed with his accounts from years ago. He could, however, risk contempt of court and his jailing by refusing to testify altogether.
After Guevara wrapped up about half an hour on the witness stand Monday, prosecutors argued that they should be allowed to use the retired detective’s more forthcoming testimony from 2000 to fight the attempt by Solache and Reyes to have their charges thrown out.
Obbish agreed but noted it was up to him to decide how much weight to give that decades-old testimony by Guevara in light of more recent developments.
Attorneys will argue in December if the confessions were obtained lawfully.
Earlier this month, Guevara took the stand for less than 10 minutes at a hearing and repeatedly said he did not recall anything substantial about the circumstances of the investigation.
Attorneys had agreed ahead of time to split his testimony in two, so he returned Monday.
Multiple others who have been convicted of murder have come forward in recent years with similar accusations of wrongdoing against Guevara. Several of their convictions have been thrown out.
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @crepeau
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