Cassandra Rivera
After hitting theaters from jail, Rivera stressed about locating work as a convicted intercourse offender and felon. She had her son, now inside the very early twenties, just take her around city looking work. She got fortunate once the supervisor associated with Wash Tub, vehicle clean string in San Antonio, learned all about her situation and stated he’d be proud to employ her just a couple of weeks after her release. Another manager at The Wash Tub, and felt some mutual attraction at that job, 
she met Tiffany Hurtado. Fundamentally, Hurtado asked her down, additionally the two hitched in 2016 december.
Rivera left The Wash Tub and ended up being racking your brains on her next move. Regional attorney Rosie Gonzalez required aid in her workplace. She had become friendly because of the San Antonio Four after helping using their situation and reached off to Rivera, seeking assistance distributing the phrase. Rivera decided she desired to make the part.
Rivera joined up with any office final summer time, where she helps run what the law states firm and Gonzalez’s campaign. Rivera didn’t know whom Gonzalez had been whenever she had been locked up, but she later learned exactly how included Gonzalez had become making use of their instance. “She had been certainly one of our sounds out hereshe had been certainly one of our advocates,” Rivera says. “She felt a solid belief in us and place the term out, and due to her, far more people found out about us.”
Gonzalez raves about Rivera as an important member of notice team and praises her work ethic, smarts, resilience, and good attitude. She states having Rivera at the office really assists brings the goal of their work house and offers an unique perspective.
Rivera claims Gonzalez is a separate lawyer whom fights for just what she thinks in, making the partnership a fit that is ideal. “I favor her drive and I also desire to be part of that,” Rivera says. “We’re a team so we focus on the situations together, and I’m learning the way the system works inside and outside. It’s amazing.”
She’s additionally motivated when you are a right component of and learning so much in regards to the system that failed her, she states. Since many of Gonzalez’s instances include Child Protective solutions, Rivera claims she’s additionally gotten to master the the inner workings 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 well to learn we’ve been exonerated, we’ve been completely cleared and innocent, and I’m in a position to head into that courthouse every single day and they observe that; they understand me,” Rivera says that they didn’t break. “It also makes me personally pleased that my children observe how strong we am and that I’ve be one thing. We never ever thought I’d be where i will be today.”
After being accused of one thing so unsightly, Rivera does feel on guard sometimes around kiddies, also those inside her household. But she attempts to perhaps maybe perhaps not allow it to arrive at her a lot of. Just like the other ladies, Rivera enjoys all of the speaking possibilities and distributing the message that life should be taken for n’t granted and can be used away from you right away. She claims she along with her young buddies had no familiarity with the way to handle their appropriate issues, plus in retrospect, managed every thing so wrong. When speaking, especially to youth, Rivera claims it is crucial that you teach them on the legal rights sand how to deal with encounters with police force.
“We would like them become knowledgeable in the justice system; if something similar to this took place to us, it may occur to anybody,” Rivera says. “We thought we had to cooperate completely, which we did because we’d absolutely nothing to conceal. But we didn’t have our solicitors current, and there have been so things that are many must have done at our trial.”
She particularly enjoys talking at high schools and universities, making sure that young adults can hear their messages early. “We have to start early and plant the seed young so they really develop along with it,” she says.
Rivera states she additionally frequently stocks home elevators Facebook, such as for example exactly exactly what conviction that is wrongful to individuals and just how we could assist more individuals prevent wrongful conviction. She additionally assists the Innocence venture up to she can and it is passionate about LGBTQ causes.
“There’s a great deal we should do,” she says. “A lot of men and women are just like, why do you wish to remain in it? You’re virtually straight straight straight back in which you started. We remain here because we can’t ignore it. Many people would would like to forget, but we can’t forget.” Across Rivera’s forearm now read the words that are tattooed 11-23-16.”