Cassandra Rivera
After hitting theaters from jail, Rivera stressed about getting work being a convicted intercourse offender and felon. She had her son, now in his twenties that are early simply just just take her around city in search of work. She got fortunate if the supervisor associated with the Wash Tub, a motor vehicle clean string in San Antonio, learned all about her situation and said he’d be proud to employ her just fourteen days after her release. At that work, she came across Tiffany Hurtado, another supervisor in the Wash Tub, and felt some shared attraction. Fundamentally, Hurtado asked her away, additionally the two hitched in 2016 december.
Rivera left The Wash Tub and was trying to puzzle out her next move. Neighborhood attorney Rosie Gonzalez required aid in her workplace. She had become friendly aided by the San Antonio Four after assisting making use of their instance and reached off to Rivera, requesting assistance distributing the phrase. Rivera decided she wished to use the part.
Rivera joined up with any office summer that is last where she helps run what the law states company and Gonzalez’s campaign. Rivera didn’t understand whom Gonzalez had been whenever she ended up being locked up, but she later learned exactly exactly exactly how included Gonzalez had become using their instance. “She ended up being certainly one of our sounds out hereshe ended up being certainly one of our advocates,” Rivera says. “She felt a powerful belief about us. in us and place the term out, and as a result of her, much more people heard”
Gonzalez raves about Rivera as an essential person in notice team and praises her work ethic, smarts, resilience, and attitude that is positive. She states having Rivera at the office really assists brings the objective of their work house and offers an unique viewpoint.
Rivera claims Gonzalez is a separate lawyer whom fights for just what she thinks in, making the partnership a fit that is ideal. “I like her drive and I also wish to be an integral part of that,” Rivera says. “We’re a team so we work with the instances together, and I’m learning the way the system works inside and outside. It’s amazing.”
She’s additionally motivated when you are component of and learning a great deal in regards to the system that failed her, she claims. Since numerous of Gonzalez’s instances involve Child Protective solutions, Rivera claims she’s additionally gotten to understand the intricacies of how it operates.
Her work usually has her in the courthouse in downtown San Antonio, where she’s come across the prosecutor from her and Ramirez’s test.
“But it creates me feel great to learn we’ve been exonerated, we’ve been completely cleared and innocent, and I’m able to head into that courthouse each and every day in addition they observe that; they know me,” Rivera says that they didn’t break. “It also makes me personally delighted that my children observe how strong we am and that I’ve be something. We never ever thought I’d be where i will be today.”
After being accused of one thing therefore unsightly, Rivera does often feel on guard around kids, also those who work inside her family members. But she attempts to maybe maybe not allow it to reach her a lot of. Just like the other females, Rivera enjoys all the speaking possibilities and distributing the message that life should be taken for n’t granted and that can be studied away from you right away. She states she and her friends that are young no familiarity with the way to handle their appropriate issues, as well as in retrospect, managed every thing therefore wrong. Whenever speaking, especially to youth, Rivera states it is crucial that you teach them on the legal legal legal rights sand how to deal with encounters with police.
“We would like them become knowledgeable in the justice system; if something similar to this took place to us, it could occur to anyone,” Rivera says. “We thought we needed to cooperate completely, which we did because we’d absolutely nothing to hide. But we didn’t have our attorneys current, and there have been therefore things that are many must have done at our trial.”
She specially enjoys talking at high schools and universities, to ensure that young adults can hear their communications early. “We want to start early and grow the seed young with it,” she says so they grow.
Rivera states she additionally frequently shares info on Facebook, such as for instance just just what wrongful conviction does to individuals and exactly how we are able to assist more folks prevent wrongful conviction. She additionally assists the Innocence venture up to she will and it is passionate about LGBTQ causes.
“There’s so much we should do,” she says. “A great deal of men and women are like, why would you like to stay static in it? You’re virtually straight back for which you began. We remain here it go because we can’t let. Many people would want to forget just, but we can’t forget.” Across Rivera’s forearm now read the tattooed words “Innocent 11-23-16.”