Kenneth Smith

Having a murder conviction overturned isn't the same as being innocent, McHenry County prosecutors argue in opposing Kenneth Smith's innocence certificate.

Kenneth Smith, released from prison after serving 20 of his 65-year sentence for the 2001 murder of a McHenry restaurant owner, claims prosecutors “overlooked evidence” pointing to the real killer, court records show.

Kenneth Smith, who was released from prison last year after serving nearly 20 years in prison for the murder of a 34-year-old McHenry restaurant owner, filed a petition for a certificate of innocence Tuesday.

The children of a man gunned down in an infamous McHenry crime nearly 21 years ago are opening a Mexican restaurant in the same Wauconda location they spent most of their time with him as children – the original Raul’s Burrito Express.

A presidential visit, a double homicide in Algonquin and an ‘American Idol’ semi-finalist all made headlines in McHenry County this past year.

Jennifer McMullan maintains she was not there the night Raul Briseno was murdered despite taking a new plea deal agreeing she was

Prosecutors vacated the conviction and offered the woman a plea deal that released her on time served

‘We are grateful that, at long last, the justice system recognizes Ken Smith’s innocence, ending his almost two-decade nightmare,’ Smith’s attorney says

Ruling allows state ‘to pursue all avenues of appeal before compelling it to decide whether to move forward with retrying Smith’

‘Mr. Smith is irreparably prejudiced by each additional day he is kept in custody,’ Kenneth Smith’s attorney argues in motion

Smith, 45, who is housed at Lawrence Correctional Center in Sumner, had been convicted three times of armed robbery and first-degree murder of Raul Briseno, the 34-year-old owner of Burrito Express.

‘I had a feeling this was going to go this route,’ says son of murdered restaurateur, adding that McHenry County should have done more

Smith, who is serving a prison term for the 2001 murder of a McHenry restaurant owner, pointed to his asthma, positive COVID-19 test in request

Through attorneys from The Illinois Innocence Project, Jennifer McMullan, 39, filed a motion requesting the testing and retesting of forensic evidence collected March 6, 2001, the night Raul Briseno, owner of Burrito Express, was murdered.

Lawyers cited “a rapid spike” in COVID-19 cases in Lawrenceville Correctional Center – where the man accused of killing a McHenry restaurant owner in 2001 awaits news of the appeal that could set him free – in asking that the man be released.

Three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit appeared to cast doubts Thursday over evidence that three times has led to the conviction of Kenneth Smith in McHenry’s infamous 2001 Burrito Express murder.

Letters from a prisoner serving decades for the murder of a McHenry restaurateur reveal that attorneys have discussed a deal that could get him out of prison within the next five years.

A federal judge granted Kenneth Smith’s third appeal, calling the state’s case against Smith “extremely thin” and his conviction a “miscarriage of justice” in her 70-page ruling.

Kenneth Smith’s convictions and sentence have been vacated, and the court now will need to either start the process of retrying Smith – for a fourth time – or release him by mid-June.

The Illinois Appellate Court upheld a murder conviction for a man tried and convicted three times of murdering a McHenry business owner.