Man pleaded guilty to lesser charge in 2007 Plainfield murder case

After an appellate court reversed a man’s conviction in a 2007 Plainfield murder case, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was released on parole, court records show.

Ricardo Gutierrez, 31, of Chicago and his girlfriend, Gabriela Escutia, 31, of Plainfield, were both initially convicted of first-degree murder in connection with the death of Escutia’s boyfriend Javier Barrios, 18, on Oct. 28, 2007.

The 3rd District Appellate Court overturned both of their convictions.

After Escutia's conviction was reversed, she pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, received credit for serving more than 10 years and was released from custody last year. She had claimed that Barrios became violent with her when she tried to break things off and she didn't intend for him to die.

On July 2, Gutierrez also pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, received credit for serving roughly 12 years and was released on parole the same day, court records show.

Gutierrez shot Barrios “in the head while under a mistaken belief of self-defense,” according to the official statement of facts in his case.

Gutierrez was represented by attorneys Paul Napolski and Jeff Tomczak. Tomczak said his client believed Barrios had attacked Escutia and his plea of guilty to second-degree murder was a fair disposition.

Tomczak said his last words to Gutierrez after he was sentenced to 68 years in prison in 2013 was that case would come back on appeal.

“It turned out that it did,” he said.

Will County State’s Attorney spokeswoman Carole Cheney said the "second-degree murder conviction was secured based upon all of the evidence that was available after the appellate court’s decision."

In a Nov. 15 opinion, Justice Robert Carter found Gutierrez was illegally arrested and his statements to the Plainfield police should not have been used against him at trial.

Carter said the police violated Gutierrez's and Escutia's constitutional rights after they arrested them at Gutierrez's home in Chicago "during the early morning hours without a warrant or probable cause."

Carter said the officers took the couple to the police station for an interrogation and used improper techniques to unlawfully obtain Escutia's incriminating statements and use them against Gutierrez, who also incriminated himself in Barrios' murder.

"Thus, when taken as a whole, the facts of this case (and Escutia's) show that the police embarked upon a course of flagrant and/or purposeful misconduct by employing a series of improper tactics with the hope of turning up evidence in Barrios' murder," Carter said.