Cook County SA Kim Foxx speaks exclusively on National Wrongful Conviction Day: 'often at a loss'

For the first time, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office honored National Wrongful Conviction Day Monday.

State's Attorney Kim Foxx spoke exclusively to ABC7 Chicago on the topic.There is a long list of those who say they're still fighting for their freedom. But that's why she said she's not hiding from it, but, instead, facing it head-on.Since 1989, data from the National Registry of Exonerations show over 4,000 years has been taken by wrongful convictions in the state.

"I was numb. I couldn't cry. I couldn't say anything. It was unbelievable, to hear them say 'guilty,' knowing that I have nothing to do at all with this case whatsoever," Hernandez said."I'm often at a loss. I've apologized to all of them for convictions that I did not secure," Foxx said."To see them smiling, to see them reach out, to see them put their arms around me -- it's overwhelming," Foxx said.

Illinois leads the country with the most exonerations in 2022. But data show the state still has a false confession rate that is twice as high as the national average.He was convicted for attempted murder in 1997. But he wasn't present when the crime was committed. "I felt electricity in my body, was like the Holy Spirit telling me to get up and fight for your kids," Hernandez's mother Esther Hernandez said.

And fight she did, for the next 25 years. And now he's living down in Florida, where he started his own business, while keeping the hope alive for others like him."Knowing you didn't do something and still keep fighting, that level of resilience is what we are celebrating and again reflecting on how we got here," Foxx said.

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